Resonation Echoes
by DATsubasa
Summary: Dealing with long term absence is a pain. All they have with them is the resonation of their memories.
1. Chapter 1 Presence & Absence

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter One: Presence & Absence

**Maka**

One hazy afternoon it was.

The 25 year old just got home from the last paper of the major university final year exam in Shibusen. The peace in the house was overwhelming, the uncomfortable silence engulfed her but she forced her will to brush the thoughts off. As usual, lying on the couch, reading a thick novel. All, but the absence of the familiar presence who always loved to squeeze into the couch, with attempts to fight for more spaces, random annoying insults and the irritated scowls. And probably the once-very-active gramophone as well, which was sleeping at the corner of the living room.

Since the day she made him into a Death Scythe, things started to change. He was much stronger, being able to fight alone like Justin Law. Highly popular. And he was often busy with missions. The last time they went on a mission together was about 8 years ago. She had forgotten when was the last time they did a Soul Resonance. Those battle memories were becoming hazy. But not the person who used to be with her all the time.

5 years ago, he was transferred to Heilnite City for a long mission regarding attempts to stop Kishin from reviving. That was somewhere far from Shibusen, far from Death City. Extremely far. She still wondered why she was not brought along, since she was his Meister. On the second thought, a Death Scythe can pair up with any skillful Meister anyway. Soul was with a group of elite Meisters, should not be much of a problem dealing with the mission.

A sigh escaped her. She could not concentrate on her novel anymore. It was the last gift he got her before he went away. She found it lying on her bed, neatly wrapped on the day of his departure. She had to admit that he had got great taste for books as well as music. Even until now, it seemed that there were bits and pieces of him she did not realize, not until she decided to settle down at a quiet place and let her brain cells overtake the reality. She went over to the gramophone and meddled with it until she got it working. She uncovered one of his favorites from the huge collection which was nicely hidden in the cupboard where the gramophone laid.

Memories of him floated pass her mind as the gramophone played, notes of jazz floating past her as well. Flash back to when both first met, the dark song he played on the piano, in the Black Room which she happened to pass by. That was when their partnership emerged. All because of music. In the early years she found herself stuck in the labyrinth, despite reading up on music, the thing that clearly differentiates her from him. She tried to understand what exactly music was, until the point where Soul, sighing, suggested that all she need to do was to determine whether if she liked it or not.

Now she understood what music was. Something pleasing to the ears. That simple. Just like what Soul had told her, all she had to do was, to determine if that particular music was to her liking. After he left, to replace his presence, she bought a black six foot grand, after making Spirit to fulfill the responsibility of a father to make his daughter happy, with several death threats and intentional ignorance towards him. She looked up on music on the internet and books, and tried to self learn about music and piano playing, went to the extreme to beg people who have music knowledge to guide her. In the end, she got her father to hire a piano instructor for her. The reason of the desperation? She had no idea. It was kind of, late, to appreciate music after Soul left Death City, she regretted her blockheaded self for relying on only books for information.

She has to admit, music is enjoyable. Just like that solo Soul played for her on their very first meeting. If she had known how to appreciate music, she and Soul would have more stuff to talk about. Jazz seemed to be good enough. So was modern contemporary.

The jazz rhythm was bouncing across the room, along with her notes of thoughts. Having music around seemed to allow her feel his presence, even though it was imaginary.

She had been wearing his clothes in the apartment. The distant scent of Soul lingered despite her wearing them and washing them. She slept on his bed every night, and forgot how long she had not touched hers.

She realized that what she had been doing reminded her of Soul.

The absence was killing her, she could not recall how she was able to cope her life without him for such a long period of time. 5 years. It was way too long of an absence. Occasional hallucinations started to haunt her at times where she went to an extent to forget that Soul was actually gone. Frequent were the yells from the bathroom, or "Soul, good morning, breakfast is ready!" were tormenting her mind.

She did not understand why she behaved that way.

It was insane.

She shut off the gramophone and tucked the novel carefully back into the shelf. If she continued to stay inside the house, like what Soul had told her year ago, she would rot and mould, and then decay. What an expression, but it was until now that she realized that it was pretty true. She gave a snort and went to change into her tank top and dark denim shorts. Automatically, she went back to Soul's room and pulled out one of his favorite jacket and put it on.

She had forgotten when she learnt how to ride a bike. It was totally unlady like. Probably if Soul was around, he would go, "Girls riding bikes are so uncool." She drove herself around the town and eventually stopped outside a pub he used to bring her to, for celebrating her birthdays. She stood there, staring at her reflection on the glass sliding door. Her hair had grown much longer and it reached her waist. Height wise, she could see that she was standing as a 165cm, huge contrast to her younger self years ago. Gone were the pig tails and prim clothes Soul used to tease her about. She just realized that her chest had matured into a C over the years. If Soul had the chance to catch a glimpse of her chest right now, most probably he might end up having one of those extreme nose bleeds. He would have never imagined her having such a figure.

Chuckling quietly to herself, she went in, got herself a round of beer and went off again.

Unknowingly, she found herself back in the apartment. She could not seem to remember how she got back. She went into Soul's deserted bedroom and stood in front of the mirror.

The silence was much more overwhelming than that in the daylight. Tears started to flow. She wasn't aware of it. She continued to stare blankly at her reflection.

It was just, never the same anymore.

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**Author's Notes:**

I don't know what made me created this saga. By the time i finished this, i decided to continue. My inspiration will only come when i decided to write another chapter on the spot. You guys can say that, i am pretty good at freestyling. Well, i have read through almost all the SoMa romance related fics. From what i have read, most of the SE SoMa fics are too short for me, some of the one shots are very kawaii, hahaa, but still i am a sucker for looong fics. So... X)

I have a habit of drawing something at the end of each chapter i have written. Go to my profile page and i will have the link of the fanfic art up there. Usually, the fanart i have drawn is somewhat related to each chapter of the fic i published. =) Uhmmm... to tell you guys the truth, actually... i have finished writing up to chapter 7. But i am not going to upload all at one go, nyahahahaa XD

Feel free to review all you want. I wanted this one to be a long fic. Ideas are welcomed too =)

Have a great day and thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2 Longing

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Two: Longing

**Soul **

The lazy gleams of light from the sun washed over the land.

He used to dislike the intensity of the sunlight. It was rather the exact opposite now. The sunlight somehow reminded him of a certain someone who was far away.

The 25 year old was standing at the balcony of his headquarters' apartment, looking at the huge grassland. He was finally given a long break from the assignment he was given. The mission was going on smoothly, but somehow he did not feel any sense of satisfaction after completing phrases over phrases of the mission. The person who was supposed to rightfully share the joy of mission accomplishment wasn't here anyway. The echoes of that happy and relieved smile resonated within.

When was the last time they went on a mission together? Probably 8 years ago. After being a Death Scythe, that was the last time he saw her laughing happily. And those hugs. Those Meisters he was working with were nowhere near resembling her. Just a solemn "Good work, Soul, take a rest." It just feel downright, empty. Only the sunlight would provide him the somewhat similar kind of warmth he longed for.

Breeze swept over him, and he wished that it would take away all his thoughts. They were clogging up his mind. Probably might lose his cool sooner or later.

5 years he had left Death City. And that apartment where he used to stay. The hazy memories started to flood in and out of him. The apartment he was staying in now was nowhere close to that which he used to stay in. No one to fight with for the couch. No home-made pastries. No being clobbered on the head. No familiar vanilla strawberry smell.

Somehow, through the years he was gone, he developed a liking for reading. He wondered if she discovered the gift he got for her before he left. It was pretty thick, he remembered. Cost a bomb, it was one of the rares, and very well written. She will love it. He currently has a shelf filled with a big collection of books ranging from novels to mangas. He wondered how she would react when if she saw him lying on the couch reading them.

He stepped away from the balcony and plopped onto the couch, faint music coming out from the hi-fi set. Somehow, he started to venture into more variations of music genres that were able to remind him of her. Contemporary when she was peaceful, metal when she decided to be volatile, rock when she was fighting. Jazz as usual, for them being alone together.

Turning to a corner, he wondered why he had bought so many gifts. All were wrapped in pink, red and black wrappings. How many Valentines had passed? How many birthdays had passed? How many…

It had become a habit to buy gifts since he left Death City for every occasion he remembered. Heilnite City did not have such fanciful festivals. Who were all those gifts for anyways?

His thoughts drifted back to her again.

The intense air around him closed up. Whenever he was alone, he could feel mixed emotions rushing through himself. Somehow the mission trip felt like torture. With every minute passing, every month passing, every year passing, the more volatile he became. He always tried his hardest to suppress the roaring explosive temper which blossomed out within from nowhere. Why was he so emotional?

The 6th year was approaching. After 5 more days it would be. Yet, the mission was not completed. The impulse of abandoning the mission and getting out of Heilnite was growing much in his mind. In a good way he did not have to graduate Shibusen with exams, all he had to do was to finish off this tiring mission. Straight away when he got back, he would just get his certificate and that's it. But somehow it wasn't that exciting as having exams though. At least, he was paid for his missions in Heilnite. But when would he be able to go back, that would be another question.

He got up from the couch and went to the kitchen. It was near dinner time. For some unknown reason he expected this figure to be bouncing about in the kitchen, with laughs and occasional snarls of irritation with his attempts of disruption. The anticipation of the aroma of homemade dinner. A voice yelling angrily, "OY! Come get your dinner dammit! It's the 5th time!"echoed through the apartment. Yet, another memory.

Frustrated with himself for losing it, he punched the wall with much force.

Decided that he should just go out to have his dinner instead, and take a breather at the same time, he stomped into his bedroom to change. For the first time of the 5 years he finally caught his reflection on his mirror.

As usual, his hair was messy, he had kept his hair slightly longer than that when he was back at Shibusen before his departure. His tan was still there. He saw that he had built up his body much, compared to the sloppy him as a young teenager. He was standing at a height of 182cm. He grinned to himself at the thought of a confronting certain fool of a red head dad. With his current height, that old fool would be shocked. Probably he would not ever imagine Soul as a full grown adult ever.

Stepping into the parking yard, he automatically reached for a silver-black bike that wasn't there. He was about to facepalm himself for his foolishness when the thought of his old bike came across his mind. He wondered what it had become since he left. It was a replacement for his first bike, that orange-black piece of metal, as both of them had grown taller. He hopped onto his Harley which he bought 3 years ago and sped off.

All his meals in Heilnite were never once savoring. Eating alone and eating with people from his work wasn't cool in any way. Not even one morsel of the food he ate was to his liking. There seemed to be something missing. He just could not figure it out.

He stopped outside a store selling jewelleries. A single necklace happened to catch his eye. Without a second thought, he went in and brought it right away.

Soul did not understand how he had got home with his mind so full of thoughts. They were getting suffocating. He felt caged somehow. He set the red box at the pile of gifts that he wasn't able to send. The postal service in Heilnite was way too far from his workplace despite him having a bike.

Feeling worn out for no reason, he dreamily walked into the bath expecting it to be locked. It wasn't. Stepping in, and with an anticipation of a bad clobbering on the head with a hard cover book out from nowhere. But the dreadful silence engulfed him. He felt a tiny disappointment erupting from within.

He collapsed onto his bed right after the bath. Somehow the scent in this apartment was really differentiating him from his past. He reached over for a pearl colored coat belonging to that of a girl's which was neatly folded and laid on his chair. He had secretly taken it off from her wardrobe before he left their apartment. Soul hugged the coat tightly, engulfing the faint strawberry vanilla scent of his former Meister.

He did not understand why tears were falling.

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**Author's Notes: **

I have to upload this one right after the first. Don't think it can wait. Not for Chapter 3 though, for that, i will take my own sweet time to upload X) Right now, as i was typing and editing this, i am already writing out Chapter 8, nyahahahaha X)

Anyways, after Maka's, this is for Soul. The reason why i uploaded these 2 chapters for this time, its because, looking from both their point of view will make you feel the entire picture of the distance. It will not really be very fair if i just uploaded Maka's, coz' you won't see the whole picture. Not to worry this fic will not be overly soap-drama'ish. Its more of bringing out the individual's thoughts and feelings by descriptive sentences. I am not a fantastic writer but i hoped that along the journey of writing this fic, my writing skills will improve as well.

Anyways, i just noticed something. When i was typing out the stories, editing and re reading them, i happened to have t.A.T.u's 30 minutes playing on WMP. It just, somehow, created the right atmosphere. Especially the lyrics. 30 minutes... I don't know but its just me. The song really kinda, suited the story very well =/ I guess it can become the main theme for this fic. Okay, fine, i am weird.

Since the author's note i edited in chapter one did not show its changes, i decided to tell you guys here as probably the changes will take sometime. What i wanted to say over there is that, for some of you guys have not seen the fanart i drew for Chapter One, just a reminder, for those curious ppl out there who read the first chapter, go to my profile page and the link to the picture will be right at the bottom =) My gift to you all. Hahaa...

Alright, thanks for reading this chapt. Reviews and ideas are welcomed, and have a great day ahead!


	3. Chapter 3 Music

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Three: Music

**Maka **

Morning again. She had slightly overslept.

Having no more school was really weird for her. Studying was one of her forte.

As usual she made breakfast for herself, sometimes having the tendency to make extra servings. Probably because of habit. His cooking was not bad either, but still, she missed it.

She had made a promise with her best friend Tsubaki for a shopping session with Liz and Patty in the afternoon. The annual Shibusen prom was approaching. She had to admit that in the past, her fashion sense was totally off standards. Everything about her was nothing but seriousness. Now she could understand why Soul was rather pissed off with her at times, especially when she met one almost similar copy of her past self, a junior in Shibusen. Although the partner was nowhere resembling Soul. Souls' voice seemed to be echoing from somewhere, "Maka. You nerd."

Maka smirked to herself.

She washed up and went over to the piano to practice. She managed to hit a Grade 7, within the 5 years of intensive training and hardcore drilling of musical knowledge into her brain. Fees paid by her astonished father of course. But scales and Hanon were getting pretty boring. All the finger exercises, she was at it for an hour already, her fingers were getting tired. No wonder Soul's fingers looked so long, delicate and beautiful. And their touch…

Since she was perfectly alright with notes reading, sight reading a few pieces won't hurt. She dug out whatever scores she had and skimmed through each one. Some were too difficult for her level, some were pretty alright. Not even one piece was anywhere near easy. Not a problem, challenges were always welcomed. The ivory keys shone each note she played, with the bouncing sound produced that reflected off from the strings the keys hit, into the surroundings. The joy of producing beautiful sounds, it made a person's heart warmer.

She suddenly realized that she was feeling happy as she played on. It was then she finally understood why Soul loved playing the piano despite his family background and the pressure he suffered.

Her fingers came to rest on a thick black file. She did not remember having it in her possessions. Flipping open out of curiosity, she anticipated what she would see. Pages and pages of hand written scores skimmed past her eyes as she flipped over each page. Soul's handwriting, the file held all his compositions. It seemed that he loved to compose music as much as he loved playing it. She finally stopped at the last page after trying out what he composed. No doubt, the music he wrote were dark, sad and slightly depressing, but otherwise, they were really beautiful, just like his inner world.

Her fingers traced the title of the piano piece, called "Black Lullaby". Looking at the date, it was a good several years ago, around the time when they first met. She pressed the first chord of the piece, a resounding D minor boomed across the room. The chord sounded vaguely familiar. She continued to sight read the piece, with lapses of memories of Soul and his piano playing.

Black Lullaby was the first song he played for her.

Maka slowly shut the piano covers. She wondered if he still remembered that particular memory after so many years. Perhaps, missions and work overtook his spare time to think about things, and she did not expect much. They had lost contact since he left Death City. She wondered if he still retained his passion for music despite the heavy mission he was undertaking now.

Time passed by mercilessly. All she could hear after closing up the piano, was the ticking of the clock and her own breath. Being zombiefied as she was now, since the absence of him, she was used to the cruel silence that haunted her every day.

"_Ne, Soul. Can you play me another song?" _

_Soul gave a long sigh. _

"_Its not like you will, understand, right?" _

"_But I liked it. I liked the very first song you played in that room." _

_He smiled. _

"_Well, I guess, doesn't matter if you don't understand. As long as you liked it, I am happy enough." _

When was the last time she went into his inner world?

She got changed and met up with the female clique. She got dragged into shops after shops, trying out gowns and dresses. Somehow she did not like any of them. No black and red, and overly mature cuttings. The rest were too cute for her. They meant more for girls like Patty. She sighed as the clique dragged her to another shop.

Tsubaki looked at her with a concerned expression plastered on her face.

"Maka-chan? Are you alright?"

"Uhmm. Pretty much."

She was talking in a tone which somewhat reminded Tsubaki that way Soul talks.

It was late and Maka had not got herself a dress. The clique sighed. Maybe another outing soon, just to help Maka find what she wanted. Maka seemed to be ignorant of what the clique was thinking. Somehow her thoughts were way too constantly occupied.

But finding a dress for the prom wasn't on the top of the list in her mind right now. All she had to do was to simply skip the prom. Anyway, it would be meaningless without a dance partner. The only person who was able to lead her in a dance was him. Dancing with strangers, and her idiotic father, did not appeal to her at all.

The moment Maka closed the apartment door, she pulled out a few pieces of blank manuscript papers and went straight to the piano. Composing wasn't her forte at all, but during her shopping session, an inspiration popped into her mind when she saw a boy playing an upright piano happily in a music store. Sun shining through the store's windows, reflecting the grinning boy's bubbly shadow on the ground, bouncing with the delightful melody of the Minute Waltz. With that she pictured Soul and her bickering non-stop over silly things when both of them were much younger. And more memories flooded in.

"What a lame inspiration." She thought to herself.

A foreign tune had formed within her mind since witnessing the scene since the afternoon. She was dying to write it down.

It seemed that she wasn't that untalented in music as everyone thought she was. No one except her father and her piano instructor knew that she was learning how to play the piano.

After a few hours of painful attempts to play out the tune in her head and writing it down, with tons of trial and error, erasing and frequent furrowed brows, she finished writing it. It wasn't that fantastic, but at least it was completed.

She played the tune once, slowly grasping the new piece she had written. Contemporary melody floated across the living room. Simple yet heart filling. Her very first song she composed in her entire life, and she was pretty pleased.

After she finished playing, she glanced at the manuscript title line. It was still blank.

After thinking for a long time, she smiled and scribbled something on it before putting the papers away and prepare for a long sleep.

The title read _Soul_.

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**Author's Notes:**

Decided to update again since i am feeling rather happy this week despite...

Okay, here's the story. My old comp died on me and auto restarted by itself at random timings out of the blue. And after i got it checked throughly at the pc technician, he told me that the motherboard was a goner. Decided to use my wages from my temp work to buy a new one. The old comp is super old, XP and P4. I still can't get used to this new one, this one is an i5, but wow, worth every cent of my money. This entire frenzy took more than a week and i am not able to continue writing my Chapter 8 zzz...

I am in the midst of installing all the necessary softwares into this new piece of metal while updating this one. Tomorrow i will continue to write my chapter 8, i promise.

This chapter is more of music stuffs. Soul as a pianist, Maka as a total idiot when it comes to music, and also because i am a pianist myself. Am doing my diploma currently, but in terms of playing style, I am a jazz/modern contemporary freestyle pianist (nono, not because of Soul, its my personal playing style), and since jazz is totally underappreciated, i decided to get myself to play other genres to entertain my friends. Well, music is just something we all need in out lives huh? Hence, the many music related stuffs in this chapter. Sorry, i am really a music fanatic Forgive me for crapping about music stuffs here XD

Anyways, thanks for the 5 reviews, they provided me with enough confidence to continue writing. I do hope this chapter won't bore you guys to death, more of similar stuffs coming soon tho. Well this is just my way of writing, more veered towards the usual novel-like style i was hoping to achieve. But feel free to leave comments or suggestions so that i can continue to improve on my writing and my ideas =)

Thanks for reading and have a great day ahead!


	4. Chapter 4 The Dress

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Four: The Dress

**Soul **

A week of break was nothing at all, although he finally had the time to explore the town on his bike. He missed Death City and all the crazy festivals he celebrated with his friends. He wondered how Kid was doing as he was on a long mission as well, without Liz and Patty to give him frequent disturbances. Black Star was the only lucky one who did not get separated from his partner, guess Tsubaki must be pleased.

Today he woke up slightly late. It was the 4th day of his break. One usual dull day. Nothing special as usual. He washed up and went to change, preparing to tour the city town area again. He got to admit, Heilnite is such a maze. Several times he got lost in the area and had to spin around for hours before he managed to get out. Compared to Death City, this is one, messed city. Totally un cool. If Kid was brought to this city, he would have got an instant K.O. The architectures in Heilnite were far from being symmetrical.

No matter how messy a person he himself was, or rather, used to be (since Maka's cleanliness obsession has officially rubbed onto him since he arrived in Heilnite), Soul hated the architecture of the town. Buildings were everywhere and totally disorientated. At least, he managed to get the hang of navigating the town. He swore that he would not be going further than that.

He hopped onto his Harley and sped off in the direction of the town.

Was there any special occasion back in Death? He thought hard.

Well, her birthday was long over, Valentine's Day was out of question, and their partnership anniversary was unmentionable, because, despite him buying gifts for each occasion he remembered, he could not send the gifts to her, by hand or by post. Despite him having much spare time for the week break, the post service centre seemed to be hiding from him. He had already bought enough gifts for those little occasions for her, so much which would be more than enough to fill up the entire bathtub. The worst thing was that he could not even be at her side to celebrate the occasions with her. Like what he used to do every year before his departure.

The thought made him feel really bad.

Cruising past shops after shops down the streets, he saw several of them selling female wear. Automatically, his thoughts drifted back to her. He wondered how much her fashion sense changed for the past 5 years. The last time he saw her was her wearing a smart casual outfit, way better than before, when they were in their mid teens, wearing all prim and proper clothes. He remembered calling her short nicknames like nerd, bookworm and geek, earning himself a good clobbering on his skull with a hard cover book which magically appeared from the void.

He smiled to himself. The best thing he saw on her since they first met, was the long black Victorian ballroom dress in the Black Room in his inner world. But come to think of it, despite her being a blockhead in fashion, she definitely has the figure for clothes. Sadly, she did not appreciate that goodness nor know how to make use of it.

Come to think of it, the annual Shibusen prom is approaching. He wondered how she attended those proms with only those two dresses in her wardrobe for years. The pink one she wore when she was younger, the black one when she was approaching adulthood. She never bothered to buy anything to beautify herself. She just wore the same thing for all the proms. He gave an audible sigh and shook his head.

_Probably that black dress again this time round… he thought to himself. _

Since that crazy cat finally got her own apartment near her workplace (oddly when she had got her own house in the first place), Maka did not bother to do anymore shopping, not if someone dragged her along. But most of the time, she would always be back late, complaining about how Liz, Patty and Tsubaki did not manage to get her anything and how time was wasted much, when she could stay at home and do meaningful things like… reading. Got to admit, she really sucked at fashion related stuff. He remembered those times where both of them were about in the town area to shop for new clothes, she tend to pick out weird clothes when he asked her to be more 'çreative'. Mismatched colours, odd pieces of combinations, and the overly exaggerated designs, once were on her and out of the changing cubicle, he could not help but pick one out of the following reactions: Laugh at her, make a joke about her abysmal fashion sense, scowl, roll eyes and faint. Nose bleed is totally out though.

Soul did not mind at all, despite her helplessness about fashion. Her figure alone is enough to compromise all her so-called dullness. Her chest size although is out of the question, became something that is rather unique about her to him.

Maybe he should help her out a little. She can't wear the same thing for the prom again. He slapped himself mentally, he should have done so years ago. Instead of laughing at her. Thinking back, he was really being a total meanie.

Soul went into shop after shop, searching for something that suited her figure. Maka is more of a beautiful person rather than cute like Patty or flamboyant like Blair. He did a mental sketch of what she would look like after he left, he could not really figure it out as there might be a possibility that she would change. Or not.

He prowled around the town until the evening. He wasn't at all satisfied with the dresses he came across. Curious stares from the female customers in the shop were really intimidating, but he managed to brush it off and focused purely on his objective. Still, that did not stop him from getting embarrassed. Skipping his dinner, he decided to continue searching.

It was getting late and he was feeling worn out. This mission wasn't easy at all. He sighed and rubbed his hair slowly, thinking what to do next. For some reason, he hopped onto his bike again and sped down to the end of the town. It was as if, he was being summoned there, he unknowingly stopped in front of this particular boutique. When he was wondering what he was doing for the past few minutes, he had already made his way into the shop.

"Welcome sir, is there anything we can help you?"

"I am buying a dress."

The sales assistant gave him a questioning look. He could feel his cheeks warming up with a faint shade of pink.

"For someone important."

"Your girlfriend?"

Damn it, why was the sales assistant so nosey? The pink on his cheeks intensified. Girlfriend? He did not even have time to sort out their relationship, let alone to think about it. But… it was as if he was treating her like one…

He did not answer her question but pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and showed the sales assistant a certain picture which was neatly tucked in the transparent flap.

"This is the one. Erm… give me some suggestions. Based on the looks. And figure…?"

"Oh, shes pretty. Mind telling me her preferences as well? It will be much easier."

Finally, after discussing for a while, the sales assistant showed him to a rack of custom made dresses. His hand came to a stop on a certain hanger, and pulled it out_____. _

_Oh, perfect. This one will do very nicely on her. _

He went off with a smile on his face, a huge package tucked in his coat. Shoes next, since there's still some time left. She has got delicate feet, that of a princess despite her running about and getting them worn out during missions. He made up his mind to find the post service tomorrow. He had 3 more days left to settle the pile of gifts in his house. The 3 days could be his only chance_. _

____

Oh damn it, curse the mission. Let me go back to Death City already.

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**Author's Notes: **

Decided to upload this chapter right after i finished doing chapter 9, which was about, an hour ago. Am going into chapter 10 and is half way done. But yea, to the curious readers out there, Soul won't be back to Death that fast. This might be a pretty long story. Especially when my summary clearly says: Dealing with long term absence is a pain. Am trying to potray how they deal with their lifes without each other, outside 'temptations' and having to discover what exactly is that weird feeling they have for each other. I remembered someone leaving a comment, saying that Soul need to deal with those gifts he got for his girlfriend Maka, and, this is the chapter X) You prediction came true on the point when i finished this weeks ago, hehe~

But whether his girl received them on time is another question. ;)

Will upload the next one when i finish chapter 11. Sorry to keep you guys waiting, gome' ne! Was dealing with my scanner coz i wanna upload the fanarts i drew. And my work is giving me crap. *prays that school will start asap*

About the previous chapt, if you guys really wanna hear the song, i can do one, my own perception of what it would sound like =X Of course it will be a 'G' key *dunno if i should put it in a major or minor key tho* =p But i am dealing with my scanner first

Anyways, thanks for the comments and encouragements, i do appreciate them alot. I may some grammatical and language command mistakes here and there but, hope you guys don't mind, i do admit my english isn't perfect, hahaa. But thanks for reading my stuffs, really. See you guys ard soon and have a great day ahead =)

* * *

**Crack Convo **

Soul: BASTARD! Lemme go back to her already dammit!

Author: Hell no. *filing nails*

Soul: Geez! *frustrated* At least, release me from this stupid cage for gawd sake! *gripping at the cage bars*

Author: I threw it into the furnace, i mean, the key. Oops. *yawns*

Soul: WHAT? Why you... * accompanied with a great deal of swear words*

Author: GAWD, Evans! Shaddup and lemme get my inspiration to continue with the chapters you big idiot!

Soul: Not if you let me out!

Author: *sticking a photograph of adult Maka wearing a bikini top and shorts in front of Soul*

Soul: Wha... *extreme nosebleed and faints*

Author: Ahhhh, the peace, this always work miracle. Such a useless man, geez... back to writing. *stuffing ears with headphones*


	5. Chapter 5 Heartfelt Words

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

* * *

Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Five: Heartfelt Words

_A week later… _

**Maka **

It was nine in the morning. A rapid knocking abruptly woke her up. Groaning, she answered the door half heartedly, expecting one of the girls from the clique outside the door. A foreign face greeted her. She narrowed her eyes.

"Good morning, is Miss Albarn in? We have a delivery for her."

"I am."

The delivery man handed her a huge box which was neatly taped. It seemed to contain quite a lot of stuff. And it looked heavy.

"Please sign here."

She hastily scribbled a signature on the slip of paper stuck on the clipboard and took the box from the guy. Dragging the heavy box into the living room, she frowned. Who on earth sent this to her? Curiosity filled up her sleepy mind and she decided to fulfill its wishes. She eagerly ripped open the box cover.

Tons of beautifully wrapped gifts came to view. Maka felt her jaw drop by inches. She stared at the lot for quite some time before recovering her senses.

"Geez… what is with all these? Some stalker?"

She opened up the gifts one by one. Things ranging from necklaces to clothes to soft toys started to pile up her coffee table. Amused with the gifts, she examined them one by one. All of them pleased her a lot, it seemed that there wasn't any one that she didn't really like that much. Who on earth actually know her taste for little things that well? Her spirits lifted and a sweet smile spread across her face.

A card was stuck to a long package resting at the bottom of the box, she plucked it out and read it.

"Hey… I know it has been a freaking few years since we last communicated, it totally sucks I swear. Due to time restriction I could not send these gifts on the exact day of the respective occasions every year, the cursed post office is too far from where I am staying now. Am having a week worth of break finally and decided to settle this once and for all, sorry if all those gifts shocked you since I sent them to you at one go. They are for your birthdays, Valentine's Day and whatever day which worth celebrating when we were still living together. Hope you liked them. And my most recent gift, the one this card is sticking to, is for the prom, you seriously need more clothes in your nerd wardrobe, haha. Don't get shocked when you unfold it. I still remember the exact date of the prom, hope this delivery arrive on time. Can't write anymore, the bastard of the delivery serviceman is bugging me.

Take care… and sorry for not being around.

PS: It is uncool for me to write this, but_"

The end of the message was purposely smudged. She gave a yell of disappointment. The feeling of wanting to strangle him for the unwanted suspension of the little message started to build up. But still, she had to smile. He had not forgotten her. And the gifts were definitely very sweet. Which explains her inner question about someone knowing her taste earlier. She remembered the package and tore the wrappings open. She pulled out a thick neatly folded fabric and a pair of shoes.

Maka gave a loud gasp as she unfolded the fabric and held it at arm's length.

She was dumbfounded for quite some time, staring at the gift Soul talked about in the card. The feeling was overwhelming. She instantly felt her eyes starting to water when she came to her senses. Why on earth… what's with the tears.

_This will do for the prom. Thanks, Soul. _

She smiled to herself, hugging the beautiful fabric tightly.

_On the day of the prom_…

Tsubaki dropped by Maka's apartment.

"Maka-chan. Do you need me to loan you one of my dresses? Please don't tell me you are not going."

_Geez, she sounded frantic. _

Maka smiled at her, "No worries, I will be going."

"Really? So I assume you are wearing that same black dress then?"

"Not really."

Tsubaki's eyes widen, "Hmm?"

"Give me a minute to get ready, and then we will go to meet up with Liz and Patty to get ready."

"Okay!"

The girls changed into their dresses at the venue's changing room. Squeals and chattering could be heard everywhere. The atmosphere was certainly welcoming and joyous. Liz went over to knock on Maka's cubicle door.

"Woman, are you still alive in there?"

"Yes yes, you guys go ahead first. I will find you later."

"We can wait for you in here."

"Nah, just go first. You don't want to miss the spotlight, Liz."

The clique was in the middle of the ballroom talking with enthusiasm. A certain girl with long ash hazel hair was brushing her way through the crowd. Boys went forward and asked her to be their dance partner but she rejected them with a smile.

"Hey, who is that babe?" Liz asked, narrowing her eyes questionably at the direction of the unknown girl.

"Wait, isn't she walking towards us?"

"Wha… Makaa?"

Maka smiled at the clique, the black dress with red layering caught their eyes.

"Oh my god! Wait a minute! Where did you get that dress?" Liz was half screaming.

"Wooooooah, so pretty!" Patty exclaimed, while Tsubaki nodded her head, looking pleased.

"It was Soul. He sent it." She said, smiling sweetly. The clique was dumbstruck. They had not seen that smile for years.

"Wait, did you just say, Soul…?"

Maka said nothing more. All she did was to smile serenely to put all questions out.

The night ended with everyone smiling broadly, BlackStar stole almost all the spotlight as usual, and was being dragged home by Tsubaki, who was sighing and mumbling about how he should control his appetite.

Liz prodded Maka's shoulder.

"Mind telling me, what has Soul got to do with this dress?"

"He managed to find time to get a delivery service and sent over 5 years worth of gifts to me he bought over there."

"WHAT? 5 years…"

"Well, geez, it seems that he remembered about the prom and my gone-case wardrobe. He managed to get this dress for me before making the delivery. So… yea."

Grinning at the overly surprised expression Liz had on her face, she bade her goodbye and walked home slowly.

_Only that silly person can be my dance partner. _

Changing out from the dress, she delicately placed it in a suit protector. Tomorrow she will be bringing it to the laundry's for quality dry washing. That dress must never be damaged. She reached over to her desk and took the card Soul sent. She re-read it countless times before stopping at the small PS at the bottom. An idea struck her. Gently, Maka scraped a soft eraser over the smudged PS message. Since the card was glossy, the smudged ink came off after a few rubs. Taking a charcoal pencil with soft lead, she delicately scraped over the area where the words were supposedly to be. It seemed that that idiotic guy had put too much pressure on the pen. The pencil lead slowly revealed the dents.

"PS: It is uncool for me to write this, but I really missed you a lot."

**Soul **

He was lying lazily on the couch when a knock on the door snapped him back to reality. Scowling, he opened it, only to find Kid standing outside.

"Hey! Good to see you again man!"

Kid responded with a smack on his shoulder happily. "Dealing with mission related stuff." he smirked, "But I won't be staying long."

"Oh, why?"

"Just to deliver some important documents in person. Thank goodness Leinveil City isn't far from Heilnite. But then… Heilnite… IS NOT SYMETRICAL! HOW ON EARTH ARE YOU ABLE TO LIVE WITH THIS HORROR?"

That got Soul laughing his head off.

"I see, so what brings you here?"

"Paying you a visit, Justin told me that you are staying here for your mission. And there is something I need to give you. Unlike you, I have internet access there. Liz sent these over the internet. She asked me to print them out for you, thought you might want to have a look."

Kid handed Soul an envelope.

"Got to run. Hope to see you again soon!"

"Yea, take care, man!"

Soul closed the door and went back onto the couch, opening the envelope. A small stack of photographs fell out from inside. He curiously picked the stack up and looked at them. Turned out to be the photographs of the annual Shibusen prom. Grinning with anticipation, he skimmed through photos after photos. Oddly, she did not appear in anyone of them, even the group shots.

Did she receive the delivery too late? And in the end, skipping the prom? Or was she too embarrassed with that same black dress she wore there?

The last photograph had a huge paper note stuck on it.

"Soul, Liz told me that this is a must-print photograph. And asked me to write down a note to tell you to keep this picture in this current excellent condition no matter what circumstances happen. I have to agree with her, this picture is beautiful. Hope it makes you day. Yea, and keep it well.

PS: The outfit is symmetrical, perfect!"

Laughing his head off at the last comment, Soul slowly peeled off the paper note to reveal the photograph.

It was a half body personal shot.

Maka was doing a slight curtsey with the dress he sent over to her. And she was smiling. And her changes over the years since he was gone, made him totally speechless for several minutes. He sat there, staring at the photograph with his jaws ajar with a pink tint spreading across his cheeks. He felt another nosebleed urge coming when his eyes travel down the photograph.

Maka had grown into one hell of a woman.

_Looks like the delivery is right on time. I will definitely have this picture framed. _

_

* * *

_

**Author's Notes: **

Even though I said in my previous notes that I will only upload when i finished chapt 11? Mah, forget it, since I am almost done XD

This is chapter 5 for you guys. Turns out that Maka received his gifts are right on time. Well, the gift thingy actually happened to me tho, hence, i decided to input that nice idea into this chapter. My best friend, not boyfriend, best friend, happened to be a guy, went overseas for studies. It has been quite awhile now (about 3 years already) but he is always sending gifts over to me despite how busy he is. Very sweet of him. =)

Btw, I am keeping this story clean. I sucked at writing lemons and when i do... the stories turned out to be pretty explicit... oops. Nah, kidding. But no promise that they won't get involved with a third party or something. My ideas flow along on spot when i write. ^^

Hope this chapter makes your day. Sorry, not enough fluff

Anyways, thanks for dropping by to read this, have a great day ahead. And Happy Belated ThanksGiving XD

PS: My fanart for Soul for Chapt Two is uploaded ^^ Go to my profile page for the link, thanks for reading =)


	6. Chapter 6 Admirer

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Six: Admirer

**Maka **

Waiting for exam results is a pain.

As usual, she was at her grand, practicing. Her other friends were probably lazing around in their own house or out somewhere clowning around. Although the prom was way over, she still recalled the bits and pieces of the event. And the ton of gifts she received from a particular someone which were all placed in her room neatly.

Somehow a sense of disappointment and remorse washed over her when she thought of the gifts. She was unable to send him any, let alone buying gifts to reserve for him when he managed to finish his mission. She did not have the address to his current workplace, neither was she able to travel like Kid to far places efficiently. She was being stationed in Shibusen as, on the point when she graduated officially, she was to carry out missions like Soul. There was one which was already reserved for her long time ago. Being a semi-weapon herself, handling missions alone was pretty alright. Got to admit that the completion process was not as much efficient as that when Soul and her were partnering.

Even though Kishin was initially destroyed by the anti-wavelength punch she offered with much pleasure, it managed to activate all its little clones around the globe, causing chaos. Apparently, that freak created them, before being imprisoned by Shinigami-sama. Traces of Madness were reported to infect cities after cities. Soul's mission was to find the exact location of one of its almost developed clones, as well as to stop Madness form infecting the city he was at currently.

It seemed that Kishin clones were rather good at playing hide and seek. Number of witches all over the globe was increasing rapidly as well, adding an amplifier to the injury.

Great, more problems. How on earth will he be able to come back to Death City?

She still had her friends, but no doubt, she was pretty lonely. The house felt downright empty and the air was too stale. She thought of the gifts he sent her. And that card. Those things would be able to keep her sanity longer.

Decided that Soul's Rot & Decay curse will not have its satisfaction of coming true, she got changed and decided to go to the beach for a long stroll.

The beach brought her cute memories as well. She remembered on several occasions when they were much younger, the clique would meet up and troop to the beach and chill. And girl conversations of topics ranging from comparing the size of boobs to handling boys. Somehow when she stepped onto the sand, more flashbacks whipped around her mind.

"_What's wrong with my swim wear? Huh?" _

_Soul was sighing. _

"_Not the swimwear, idiot." _

"_Then what?" _

"_Indeed they are underdeveloped, air plane runway." _

_He was rewarded with a perfectly aimed whack right in the center of his skull. Kid's eyes were shining as he awed the perfectness of the chop accompanied with Patty's maniac resounding laughter. __Liz was laughing her head off. _

"_YOU PERVERT, SOUL! OF ALL PLACES TO LOOK AT, WHY THE CHEST? ERO! HENTAI! STUPID IDIOT!" _

"_Hoy, oy! I am just stating the fact! What the hell, why do you have to bring that damned book EVERYWHERE?" _

"_Damn it I am very sorry that I am not Blair!"_

"_Geez! Why bring up that stupid cat? I am talking about you not her!"_

Maka had to smile. Thinking back, all their bickering topics were about nonsensical and mundane stuffs, which making it a rather exhausting but fun activity. With the sun lazily shooting the glow of the heat everywhere, she continued to walk down the beach. Every step she took, memories poured into the realm of her mind. It was pleasurable. Countless of times she smiled to herself unknowingly, and in the end, resulting her to have an idiotic smile plastered on her face. Not cool. That smile failed to cease because those details playing in her mind were too distracting, and very much entertaining, she forced herself to turn towards the direction of the sea. Not long after, a guy came up to her to start a conversation.

"Hi."

She looked at the guy. He was nothing like Soul, no doubt, he got the looks, more of Liz's type of guy, but not bad. She could not recall where she had seen him before. Strangely familiar though. Her heart nearly jammed when he flashed her a warm smile.

"I remember you, you are Maka Albarn, a final year university student from Shibusen. You, don't remember me at all?"

"No, kindly tell me wha… I mean, who you are."

"Finn. My name's Finn. Finn Genvier. Remember? We used to be in the same class under Professor Stein before promoting to university standard studies."

"Oh, that rings a bell."

"Since you are alone, mind if I join you?"

"… Fine."

The guy did almost all the talking, which she kindly smiled as a reply. Finn seemed to have this soothing aura emitted from him. Somehow without any reason, she felt relaxed walking beside him. But the conversations were turning her off.

"We looked as if we are dating. " Finn was saying jokingly.

Maka did not think it was funny. But come to think of it, she began to wonder about her relationship with Soul. What exactly are they? A couple? Just partners? Best friends? She was beginning to get absorbed with those thoughts when Finn interrupted her.

"I am glad to see you here, well… you know, erh, well actually, there is something I always wanted to tell you."

"Which is?"

"Well, I…"

**Soul **

It was near evening. He was sitting, lazing on his couch reading a paper. An A5 sized photo frame was sitting on the coffee table. He put down his paper and looked at the picture enclosed within the frame.

_You have become such a lovely babe over the years, Maka. _

He pondered over a question he had been asking himself since he left Death City.

What exactly is the kind of relationship between them? What is it?

His conversation with BlackStar on the day before his departure rang through his mind.

"_How do you feel about her? Do you love her?" _

"_Uhm… What about you then? With Tsubaki, you guys have sorted out your relationship?" _

"_KAAH! I am a man that surpassed god! Hell, of course I did! We are not 14 forever you know!" _

"_So…?" _

"_I loved her." _

_Soul looked at his best buddy with much surprise. The childish guy had just said something which was nowhere near childish._

"_I just can't imagine another woman other than her I will be spending my life with in the future. We have been through together in many situations, well I just don't know how to explain." _

"_I see." _

"_Can you bear to have her leaving you for another man forever?" _

"…"

"_Think about it, man. Better sort things out before it is too late. By tomorrow if you can. This is something you need to discover your own self. I can't teach you much, I only can give you advice, bro." _

He did not manage to get his thinking done by the day of his departure. All he remembered was, he looking down at his feet in front of her, unable to get words out of his mouth.

"_Take care, Soul." _

_He looked into her lovely emerald eyes. _

What is with that look? Why does it make me feel as if my heart is going to tear apart?

He realized that several times when alone in the apartment, he locked himself up in the bedroom and cried silently. That was unmanly. He hated it. Why on earth was he crying? And those tear shed symptoms were getting more and more frequent. A lot of regrets were hung around him, clinging onto him so tight that he could not shake them off even with physical damage to himself. What if he could not make it back alive? Anything could happen. Even death. He had many unfulfilled wishes, many things that he wanted to do. His thoughts went back to her again. He kept recalling the way she looked back at him when he turned to leave for the place, the aching throb of his heart twisting inside him.

**Maka **

The dinner with Finn turned out pretty alright. He was quite a nice guy. Popular. Good looking. Skillful. Come to think of it, he makes an ideal boyfriend. A lot of girls will definitely be more than willing to be.

She soaked herself in the bath. The tranquility of the water managed to clear her mind of debris thoughts. She closed her eyes slowly and recalled the events of the afternoon.

A long walk which supposed to be just only her alone, Finn came into the picture unexpectedly. He ended up walking with her and talking non-stop. He kept smiling at her and looking into her eyes with such a gentle gaze. He was a book lover too, loved reading. He stopped halfway when he was trying to say something. Ended up having an early dinner. Another walk. Went to the attraction spots and had abit of fun. His confession at the end. It seems that he had a long term crush on her way since before the Spatori group was formed.

She quickly finished bathing and went into Soul's bedroom, the room where she was used to sleeping in. She jumped onto the bed and pulled up the sheets to her face.

_Did I make the right decision? _

"_Finn. Thanks, I appreciate that." _

She looked at the picture on Soul's desk. A picture of them which they took together on the day of his departure. She remembered how tightly his hands gripped her shoulders.

After a long period of internal silence, she finally smiled.

_I will continue to wait for you, Soul. _

"…_But sorry. I am taken." _

"_It's alright. I understand. I know that person in question is him." _

_

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_

**Author's Notes: **

When did I last updated? Gee... but I am still taking my time XD

Quitted my job to wait for my school semester to start, ended up being my mom's personal house painter =.= Since I am pretty 'free', I was given tins of paint to paint the entire house, I started with the living room and is halfway done, feeling damn tired zzz

Anyways, I have completed chapter twelve and doing thirteen. But then again, since Christmas is coming, I will do a Christmas Special for you guys. It will be uploaded on Christmas Eve before I upload chapter seven (which probably will be in 2011 Jan, hehe). Again, thanks for reading and following this fic till now. Thanks for the wonderful reviews and comments you guys left on the review page, they are really motivating, and you ppl are really sweet. =)

Drew some fan arts but i just realized that i forgot to ink them. Have a hard time trying to get the pictures onto my comp since my scanner is, dead (literally). Ended up using my mobile phone to snap them =.=

For this chapter, hoho, an admirer for Maka. Although i decided to make this one brief. And some flashbacks. Anyway, Maka has blossomed into a cool lady who can easily deal with people. I wanted badly to let Soul have a good taste of Maka's developed personality, but, naaah, absence makes the heart fonder, i guess, i shall let Soul being emotionally tormented for the time being XD Decided to slowly reveal how Maka's personality changed over the years and what kind of a lady she has become. But those two, are really... either too naive, too innocent, overly confused or just being a total blockhead when it comes to dealing with their feelings. They just don't realize what exactly is the feeling they have for each other. Need something big to hit them hard. Hmmmmm...

Oh well, the time will come anyways. Mentioned earlier that I will upload again on Christmas Eve, as a present for you guys ^^ Thanks for dropping by and have a great time anticipating the arrival of Christmas =)


	7. ChristmasChapter Yuki Hime

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

**Author's Notes: **

Meh i decided to put the author's notes here. Because, this chapter is hellish long.

By the way, Merry blessed Christmas to you guys who are reading this, this special chapter is a Christmas gift for you all. Boy, am I tired after finishing this. I managed to get back home on time to finish this chapter. And oh, this chapter is special, it is just like a one-shot fic. But it is all related to the main story itself. Just treat it as a continuation from the previous chapter i uploaded =) This one is about six thousand plus words if i remembered correctly XD Just to inform you all that, Yuki Hime means Snow Princess. I enjoyed writing it to the core. Am sincerely sorry if there are any grammatical or vocabulary mistakes down the story, i might miss them out during the editing. Don't wanna drag this chapter, as this chapter is delicated for Christmas. Hope you guys loved this special edition. I am currently working on chapter thirteen so please bear with me for dragging the uploads ^^

Merry Christmas again, have a fulfilling year ahead and I will see you guys in the year of 2011. Enjoy yourselves yea? Thanks again for reading, love you guys! ^^

* * *

Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Christmas Special Chapter: Yuki Hime

**Maka **

She woke up early in the morning and found herself partially tangled by the blankets, her bed hair, her awkward sleeping posture and his old jacket. She yawned and tried to get up from the bed, only to result her to go tumbling onto the laminated floorboards. Hands came into contact with the ground and the next thing to be heard was a shriek, followed by the noise of feet scrambling. She hurriedly jumped back onto the bed and tried to pull the tangled sheet over her feet while frantically rubbing her palms together. Hell, the floor was as cold as ice. For a while she sat on the bed, her bed sheets forgotten and was staring into space, trying to put the pieces of what happened earlier together. Not surprising, it was the end part of the year and white dusty mass was slowly descending from the skies.

Grumbling to herself, she shuffled her feet before letting them come into contact with the floor and walked towards the calendar. It was the twenty first of December. Another few days left before Christmas. She has no desire to celebrate the festival and has stopped going out during the twenty fifth of December since the year he left Death City. Neither is she expecting any visitors as she will always warn her friends beforehand and keeps herself locked up in her room when there are knockings of the door and the ringing of the door bell, and biting on to the will to refuse entertaining any visitors. Best is to be left alone. She knew that the Thompson sisters and Tsubaki would, by all means to drag her out of her apartment for a snow war with the boys every year during Christmas Eve, but not having him around, the snow war wasn't that exciting. How she longed for those past years when he was still around, to chuck a snowball right into his face randomly when they were hitting the streets. Or how ferocious she could be when it comes to snow wars, loving every minute when she managed to score a direct hit at him, hearing him yell in frustration for every snowball he threw which she managed to dodge. Or how they raced each other dangerously, skating in zig zag and turning sharp bends on the ice. But not as much as how he piggy backed her home, sharing a huge scarf which winded both of them together.

But gone were all those years and replaced by some weird emptiness even though the activities were quite exciting. One of her favourite things to do during the Christmas season is to have that scarf in question placed on the coffee table and staring at it for hours. Thinking back, she felt pretty stupid and wondered why on earth would she do that in the first place. However, even till this year, she did the same thing yet again.

Mentally cursing him being the reason for causing her to become such a weirdo, she washed up and decided to go out for breakfast. Flipping her wardrobe, she pulled on a turtle necked white top and a pair of jeans before covering herself with a long ivory winter coat. Delicately pulling on the scarf, she pulled on her sneakers and was out of the apartment block within minutes. She hopped onto her, their bike, and sped off in the direction of a specific bakery café selling all of her favourite cakes and pastries.

Death City looked beautiful with all the snow covered streets, trees and the snow itself. She remembered that Soul used to tease her about her complexion being able to camouflage with the snow. Indeed, she is a very fair person, comparable to that of Tsubaki's porcelain skin tone. Because of her personality, Soul always loved to call her hime-chan followed by fake curtseys which never failed to make her chuckle with amusement. With ripples of jazz bouncing into her ears from the headphones, humming along with the tune, pretty soon she found herself stopping outside the café in no time, thanks to the music distracting her from calculating the time of travel. With a jingle of the bells hanging on the door, she stepped in and settled herself in the couch seat right at the corner beside the window, the seat where Soul and herself always took whenever they had the chance to stop by for a snack. She ordered a hazelnut vanilla and a huge piece of apple strudel. Biting onto the fork with a chunk of the strudel, she was deep in thoughts when someone tapped her shoulder lightly.

Familiar faces occupied her view. Death the Kid, Liz and Patty settled themselves at her table, grinning at her at the same time.

"Morning Maka, why are you eating alone? Don't mind if we joined you?"

"Of course not! I don't mind having some company." She smiled back.

They ordered their breakfast and while Patty was engrossed with her food, Liz turned her attention to Maka.

"So, I assume you won't be going for the Spartoi's Christmas outing this coming Saturday."

Maka sighed and shook her head, "I am sorry."

Kid studied her friend quietly. He had already noticed her drastic change in her behavior, personality and habits right after a specific guy left Death City for a long term mission. He sighed in understanding. Even though leaving Liz and Patty at times for phrases of missions his father gave him made him felt reasonably uncomfortable and frustrated without their crazy personalities and presence, Maka's case, he was sure, is totally different from his. He had observed how the duo behaved towards each other even since he got to know them. And he knew there is more than just best friends, or rather, a patriotic relationship.

Several times he caught the Death Scythe digging through his Meister's locker for traces of undesirable documents folded neatly in small envelopes, while frantically glancing around for any sign of her. Or him scowling and scaring off male admirers who tried to get closer to her on the school's corridors. One of the most extreme cases was when he went as far as to almost beating some bold idiot guy in the school into minced meat when that idiot declared his undying love for the Meister and openly challenging the scythe into giving up his partnership. Kid admitted inwardly that the poor idiot was really a big threat to Soul, he was one of the popular guys in Shibusen, with the looks and all the charm as well as skill. The same case as well, for the Meister, when she caught bold female fans of the Death Scythe clinging onto him and the next thing that happened was that horrible fit she threw about, ignoring the poor Death Scythe for the entire week. Or the fact when she whacked the girls into a pulp when they taunted her about her abilities and making her to swing a mop to demonstrate her scythe wielding skill, with her losing her usual composure and snarling while walloping the girls up, yelling, "A MOP? YOU ABNORMALLY MORONIC IDIOTS ACTUALLY GO THAT FAR TO CATAGORIZE MY SCYTHE AS A MOP? TO HELL WITH YOU LOT!" The Meister usually kept her cool, she ignored all the taunts against her but would never accept any insults thrown regarding him, deliberate or not.

The young Shinigami-to-be sighed again, thinking how idiotic and blockheaded the duo could be. Seeing how the Meister became more and more like a rock each passing year, he is determined to hammer the rock coating off from her. An idea popped into his head and he started to wonder if it was feasible. At the same time, Liz was still talking to the Meister.

"Isn't this the scarf the two of you shared, like, years ago?"

"Yup. Gee, you still remembered."

"Seriously, Maka, you two do really have something going on."

"The heck are you talking about? We are just partners, sheeesh."

"Oh really! You two are really stupid, don't you even miss him at all?"

"Well… yea but…"

"What about that ton of gifts he sent you?"

"Well…"

No use trying to get the silly woman to think about that topic, she is way too thick to let the taboo topic to get into her head. Kid had quietly listened to the conversations between the two while thinking about his plan, munching his blueberry pie with brows furrowed. That's it. Worth a shot no matter what. That woman is really way too stubborn. He finished up the last bit of the pie and slammed the fork onto the table, startling the three ladies. He spun towards the female Meister.

"Maka, I am going to give you an early Christmas present."

"Whoa, wait a minute, why the sudden?"

"The best gift you can give me is to say yes." He waved a hand impatiently.

"Huh what?"

"Since I am taking a trip to Heilnite again in the evening to deal with some minor matters, you are coming with me."

"WHAT? For what?"

"Don't worry, I will tell my dad about this, and let you have a good break."

"WHAT?"

Liz grinned to herself, she knew what her Meister was planning. Since the Christmas week would probably be her only week to be free to assignments, it would not hurt much to drag her onto a short trip, and since Kid was able to travel with Hermes-like speed from the North Pole to the South Pole, taking Maka along to Canada won't be much of a problem. The thing is that, Kid has only about four to five days to bring her to and back, putting his mission into regards as well. Seeing the determined look on his face, she knew it would be a success. Let those two meet up and have a nice talk is a really good idea. She picked up the fork and pointed at the Meister.

"Maka, say yes. You need a trip."

"Why Heilnite? Why me?"

"Don't need us to elaborate more, missy. JUST SAY YES!" she leaned closer to her with her eyes narrowed.

The Meister did not finch in any bit but with one OCD freak, a demanding missus and a rowdy woman who decided to join in the fun the last minute, all three giving her menacing looks, she face palmed herself. Sighing, she held up her hands.

"Ok, fine, I go, happy?"

"So be it. Meet us at the school gates this evening at five. Just bring along a change of clothes or two. Mind the weather, bring along your thickest coats along. The rest I will settle for you."

Everything happened way too fast that it set her head spinning. The young Death-God settled all their tabs and went out of the café, leaving her sitting like a statue on the velvet chair, with her jaws ajar like an idiot. She sighed heavily and cupped her forehead with her hands. Why on earth did a simple breakfast trip turn out like that? But then again, the thought of going to Soul's workplace made her nervous. So, is she going to see him? Millions of possibilities flooded into her mind. She gave a grunt and gently bounced her forehead against the table. She decided to accept that fact that she did not have any other choice before agreeing to Kid's little Christmas gift. But then again, other than feeling the nerve, she was getting rather excited. She wanted to see how much he had grown over the years. Many things to tell him too.

After staying in a trance state for half an hour, she cancelled the thoughts of going cruising around the town and instead, shot back home on the bike and started to draft out a mental plan of what to do when she reached there. And all the packing. She was way early when she reached the school gates. Nerves got onto her.

Kid and the Thompson sisters reached there an hour later. Grinning at the nervous Meister, Liz and Patty dragged her along with Kid as they reached the Death-God's office.

"Well well, Maka-chan, I heard it all from Kid, and I agreed that you need a good break."

"Umm, Shinigami-sama, are you sure you are okay with all these…"

"Of course. I am very sure that Soul-kun would be happy to see you too. Although I can't guarantee that you two are able to meet though, as from what I heard, Soul is away from his headquarters at the moment. Let's hope that luck will be on your side."

"Well…"

"I have made all the arrangements with Kid-kun. You can rely on him about your stay at Heilnite. Now, now, time to get going. And Kid-kun, remember to pass this stack of documents to Rae-san okay? Make sure she gets them. Missions next week, so be back on the twenty sixth. Enjoy yourselves then! Happy holidays!"

Maka could not catch on what happened for the next few minutes and when she got herself back to reality, she was already air-borne along with Liz and Patty. They were kept in a void space temporary but were able to see what was going on out there. Snow was everywhere and the scenery was really beautiful. Especially when Kid skimmed over the sea waters with the moon hanging in the mid sky. Patty was singing the Christmas songs in a very pitchy tone and annoying Kid by pointing out all the asymmetrical subjects along the way. Liz and Maka were engrossed chatting about jazz, fashion and other girly talks. And a topic Maka feared most, which is, topic about men.

"Men are all perverted bastards." she was grumbling, "As long as there is another with a huge pair of tits walking past they diverted their attention to that new image and totally forgot about what they used to admire or like."

"Hahahahaa, Maka, not all men are like that." Liz totally enjoyed the way the female Meister describe men and always provoke her to talk more about that subject. The way Maka talked about men and the tone she used makes everything really funny.

Until Kid could not tolerate anymore and cut across the chattering, "Maka, take me, or Black*Star, and Soul for example. We aren't that bad alright?"

"Okaaay, there may be some exceptional cases but I guess only you guys know yourselves. Men are still perverted unfaithful bastards."

Kid could only sigh. He hoped that Soul would be able to rub away the stubborn fact from her mind.

They reached Heilnite around nine at night. Being in Heilnite for the first time, she took a good look around. She hated the way the buildings were constructed. The entire city looks like a maze. But a lively city it is. Seems that Heilnite is totally in a Christmas mood. It looked like a winter wonderland with snow covering everywhere. Shops were still open even if it was midnight, the Christmas lights hanging from house to house and buildings to buildings. The air was warm despite the winter coldness. They finally found themselves at the huge gates of the headquarters.

Heilnite's Death's Headquarters looked like an old castle, but due to the size and the architecture, it looked pretty much like a majestic one in the midst of a fairytale. Except that the colours are of black, red and white. Kid tapped his finger on the scanner and the gates flung open to welcome the four travelers. Stein was standing in the path with Marie, smiling at the group. Delighted to see them again, Maka went forward and gave both her professors a hug.

"It's late, I am showing you three to your rooms, we will deal with the documents tomorrow, Raena is out with a group on mission, she will not be back until tomorrow afternoon, pass those documents to me."Stein was saying, and then turning to Marie, he paused and glanced at Maka."Marie, I will leave the arrangements for Maka to you, like what Shinigami-sama instructed us to. Have a good night, Maka." He smiled and left with the other three, who were grinning at her and waving her a good night.

"Maka-chan, you have grown so much, such a beautiful young lady." Marie was saying. The young woman had to blush.

"So, Marie-san, where will I be, erh, staying?"

"In Soul's apartment of course."

"Wha… Wait, this is too sudden!"

Marie simply chuckled and dragged her on, "Well, Maka, I don't think he will be back until Christmas though, so, don't feel awkward staying in his apartment. I don't think he will mind either" She added a wink.

The young woman felt her heart sank by miles upon hearing what the Demon Hammer had just told her. Marie could see the disappointment, the way Maka's face fell. She gently patted her shoulder.

"Yes, Soul-kun is on strict duty, he is somewhere around Heilnite though. But, let's hope the Christmas luck will be on your side, Maka-chan."

In no time, they arrived at the apartment in question. She was trembling with anticipation as Marie handed her the spare apartment keycard and a visitor's identity scan card and bade her farewell. She swiped the keycard through the apartment scanner and heard a faint "beep" sound as the door swung open to welcome her in. Stepping into the dark, she closed the doors behind her and fumbled for the switch to switch on the lights.

The apartment was rather clean, although no where resembling to their apartment back in Death. A stack of newspapers was on the coffee table and she noticed a shelf full of books beside the couch. She moved forward and saw a think book lying on the couch. Picking it up, she glanced at the title, "Howling Moon". It was definitely one of her favourites she was dying to get her hands on. She walked towards the shelf with the book, and peering at the titles sitting on the shelf boards. Novels and mangas. She chuckled with amusement. It seems that Soul has developed a habit of reading through her influence. Gently placing the book into an empty slot on the shelf, making a mental note to finish reading what he had got on the shelf within the five days, she moved towards the bedroom with her small luggage.

The room was very clean as well and totally smelled of him, full of his scent that engulfed her at one go. It felt as if he was right beside her. His empty luggage and suitcases he used to carry all his stuffs were resting at a corner. She glanced at the study table and saw more novels. She giggled out loud and cupped a hand on her left cheek. Dropping her luggage, she opened the wardrobe and skimmed through the clothes he got for himself for the past few years. Definitely so his taste in clothes, based on the style. Jackets, shirts of fitting cuttings without anything fanciful printed on them, dark coloured jeans. She went on to explore his bed and saw two objects that made her heart skipped a few beats.

A photo frame of someone vaguely familiar and a sweater belonging to a certain female were placed delicately on the side of the pillow. She slowly picked up both objects and stared at them with her mouth hanging slightly open with surprise. In that photo frame was the picture of her taken during the prom. Liz really meant her words that time when she said that she had sent the pictures to Kid and wanted to make sure Kid sent it to him. She changed her attention to the sweater. It was hers, and she was wondering where it had disappeared to. Piecing the pieces together, she finally got the entire picture of the situation. She had to smile. Neither did she fail to notice a small pile of gifts which was at the other corner of the table that he started to accumulate again after the first batch being sent over. Every one of them was tagged with her name. It seems that he decided to continue buying them even though he did not have much time to send them over.

She flung herself onto his bed without bothering to change out, feeling worn out from the continuous travelling. His scent slowly putting her into deep slumber.

**Soul **

He was with a group, collecting information from the mysterious site they recently found. It was past midnight and he was getting pretty tired and covered with a few surface wounds. All the fighting was boring the hell out of him but they managed to collect a few evidences of The Black Blood Experiment being conducted. Even though Medusa was toasted since long ago, it seemed that there are other witches out there being interested with the research she had done. He glanced at the sky as the group walked on to the next stop. It was still snowing but lightly, with the eerie moonlight radiating and the entire area gave off the feeling of that of a Haunted Christmas theme. Walking on behind the group, he glanced at the snow covered grounds and absently mindedly picked up a ball of snow and started to play with it, thinking about the past events of the snow related festivals he used to enjoy with a specific female and a bunch of crazy nutters of friends back in Death.

Sighing to himself quietly knowing that it would never happen as long as he was stuck with the mission, gently letting go of the snow in his hands, he walked on with a heavy heart. Each step he took, he had to let them go for a while, the lovely times he used to have, like the snow that slowly being released from his hands. He can pick them up again later.

**Maka **

She spent the first morning reading up all the books the scythe collected. She has to put her hands up to his taste in books, and at times a nasty desire of take the books with her lingered in her head before she shook them off telling herself that the scythe needed more entertainment than her. Every book she finished, she would glance towards the door, hoping that a familiar face would appear and the shock of her being in the apartment. She had asked the people in the headquarters when he would be coming back, they only could shrug and sigh, and giving the same answers that the day would be unpredictable, just like the mission objective outcomes. Even though she was dying to see her scythe again, she knew that with the current situation, the chance was very slim. She decided to help out the headquarters along with Kid, despite Marie asking her to enjoy herself. Not just because she was bored, but rather, wanting to get a slight chance to see him for every possible ways.

In the late afternoon of the second day, she was dragged for a shopping spree with Liz and Patty, who were both determined to explore every single boutique in Heilnite. Bags of clothes, shoes and cosmetics started to accumulate in their hands and she herself was forced to buy a few as well, while thinking about how lacking her wardrobe was. She was determined to have that idiot scythe of hers to be jaw struck seeing how much her gone-case fashion sense has evolved through the years. The thought of him calling her wardrobe of clothes "Nerd-Wardrobe" almost made her stomp onto her feet. That fool of a man will never understand how a lady would feel being criticized, deliberately or for fun, about the fashion sense and the physique! They decided to stop at the last boutique of a certain street before calling it a day. Maka had to applaud those two women for being able to cruise around the crazy streets on feet. If there is a shopping marathon, they will emerge as champions for sure.

The boutique sells dresses and coats of all sorts; Formal, smart casual and casual. Liz immediately pounced onto one of the racks and started to pull out hangers of clothes to try out. Sighing at the inevitable possibility that they will spend more than half an hour in the store, she decided to wander about in the store and look for something that suits her. A pleasant looking sale girl went up to her asking if she could assist. She turned around to reject the offer but stopped the words from coming out of her mouth when seeing the sale assistant giving her a look of pure surprise.

"I saw you before, miss."

"What? This is the first time I am in Heilnite."

"Erm, no, from a photograph, I believe you are the same person."

"Pardon? A photograph?"

"A young man came into this boutique weeks ago to look for a dress, according to him, for someone important. He showed me a photograph of her he kept in his wallet. The features and the eyes, and the hair, even though it was taken in the early teens, unmistakably, it was you! Did you receive it? The black and red evening dress?"

Maka felt her jaw drop. So this is the boutique Soul went to buy that dress. Fate definitely loves to play around with them.

"Oh, yea, I did receive a black and red dress." She quickly pulled out her own wallet and showed the sales assistant a single picture tucked neatly in the transparent flap, "This guy?"

"Yes! He is the one! Your boyfriend is so sweet!"

The heat on her face intensified. It turns out that that idiotic guy kept her picture in his wallet as well. The gleeful feeling inside of her started to dance about, lifting her spirits within seconds after she realize the fact. Laughing inwardly, she turned to the sales assistant.

"Hey. Since I liked that dress, I believe that there are more nice ones in here. Recommend me something I can wear outdoors, something casual."

The shopping trip turned out to be a fruitful one in the end.

**Soul **

It was Christmas Eve. He did not really look forward to it. To think that he needed to work even on festive holidays pissed him off totally, but being one of the top Death Scythes on the globe, he decided to keep all the angst to himself and continued to stretch the fake mask over his face even wider.

Stein met up with his group deep into the midnight, at three in the morning. After giving some instructions to the group passed on to Stein from the headquarters, the group leader decided halt the mission to let everyone get some sleep before continuing their journey the following morning. They stopped by an old motel and decided to spend the night there. He was surprised when Stein came knocking onto his room door but still opened it to let him in.

"What's up, professor?"

"What do you wish for, for this Christmas?"

Soul was caught off guard with that random question and answered without thinking twice, "Maka."

Stein gave him a twisted smug grin seeing the horrified look on the young scythe's face as one of his hands immediately flew to his mouth and covered it shut, when realizing what he had just said. A deep scarlet diffused across his cheeks.

"For your information, Maka is at Heilnite now."

"WHAT?"

That definitely caught his full attention.

"She is here for a holiday, it seems that Kid dragged her along with him and Shinigami-sama has given his consent. Liz and Patty are here too of course. But they will be leaving on the evening of Christmas."

"Why the sudden…"

"Let's hope that you will get your Christmas present for this year then."

Grinning, Stein walked out of the room before Soul could ask for further details. As expected, he could not sleep for the entire night.

**Maka **

She was frustrated. The days were passing fast. It was Christmas Eve. And from what she heard, Soul was in the middle of nowhere somewhere in Heilnite. Kid wanted to take her to look for him, but he was required to deal with some complicated matters which popped out from nowhere. Maka finished the morning duty with one of the groups and went straight back to the apartment to rest. After dozing off for an hour, rapid knocking on the door and she was forced to open her eyes and entertain whoever was causing the entire ruckus.

**Soul **

He was ramming on the door frantically. It took some time for the door to open. A confused looking female was peering at him.

"What is it, Soul-kun?"

"Sorry about this, Mirani-san, can I know roughly what time will this duty be finished?"

The group leader stared at the young scythe for a while before grinning to herself. She knew what exactly was going on; Stein had told her during breakfast.

**Maka **

Shopping for Christmas presents is a total chore.

Liz and Patty once again, dragged her onto the streets, this time to shop for Christmas presents. She rolled her eyes, totally awed by the sisters' ability to shop for the entire day. She was deep in thoughts as she waited outside for the sisters to be done with the current gift shop. She had already got everyone's gifts ready beforehand and did not worry much about presents, except for one. She was thinking about the presents Soul gave her at one go at that time, and had not decided what to give to him. And especially Christmas would be on the following day. Staring at the glass display, with the music All I Want For Christmas' bouncing notes floating into her ear, she finally made up her mind after staying in that trance state till when Liz charged out of the shop and started to drag her to the next.

_All I want for Christmas is to see you again, idiot. _

**Soul **

The time was passing fast but the duty was mercilessly slow in terms of the progress. They were stuck at several pits which required quite some time to be resolved. He almost yelled out his frustrations. The duty went on into the twenty fifth, and after giving each other greetings and a promise of having a good Christmas meal when they got back, the group settled down at an inn this time to sleep over. It was deep into the night and he found himself twisting and turning about on the bed, feeling remotely restless and irritated with the duty complications. He badly wanted to go back. The drag was really painful, especially when you wanted to see someone badly and that person is just right near you but yet far away from reach.

**Maka **

She woke up with Marie knocking at the door, asking her to join the people in the headquarters for an early Christmas meal. It was pretty sad for the people working there as, right after the meal, they needed to get back to work. Curse the spread of Madness for causing all the disconnections between people, taking all the joy out for every festive occasion which passed by. She wondered if Soul would be coming back this coming evening, as she needed to get ready to leave the coming evening. For the time being, all she could do is to unwrap the presents she had gotten. Kid got her a watch of pure white gold, Liz gave her a bottle of perfume, Patty got her a well designed canvas coat and Marie got her a beautiful gold anklet. She had to applaud them for their choice of gifts. Chuckling to herself as she placed the gifts neatly into her small suitcase, she turned to look at the neatly wrapped gift she got for him. She gave a sigh as she got dressed to go out for a walk.

Her dress code for the day, she decided on her best long white winter coat, white gloves and her pair of black winter boots. The best thing she could do for him at the time being is to cook a good meal, since she heard that he would be coming back on this day in the afternoon. She did not stay too long outside, fearing that she might miss the chance to see him in case it was only for a brief while that he got back to the headquarters. Rushing back, she hastily changed out and started to whip up a few of her best dishes which she managed hone after years, things he loved to eat. After three hours of being busy in the tiny kitchen, a good spread of food for one was all ready.

She waited and waited, and time passed and he was not back yet. She paced up and down the apartment as the time mercilessly ticked by and was startled when she heard a door knock. Kid was standing outside with a grim smile to inform her that they should be going back. She glanced at the clock, it was already six plus, nearing the evening period. Kid noticed the Meister's crestfallen face and patted her shoulder gently.

"I will skim around Heilnite when we are all ready to leave alright?"

She nodded sadly, "He is supposed to be back in the afternoon, from what I have heard…"

"Yes, but I guess, we cannot predict the complications that will happen during his duty." He sighed. He felt bad because, he was supposedly promised to fulfill her wish to see her scythe again, but he was still determined to make it happen, even if the chances of catching up with Soul would be small, as he was currently on the move on his duty.

Maka dressed back into her morning's dress code and placed the gift she got for Soul on his bed. She scribbled a note and tucked it at the dinner table, where the food she prepared was all wrapped neatly. Taking a last look at the apartment, she walked out with her suitcase with a disappointed sigh.

**Soul **

"Crap, crap, crap, damn it, of all the times why do they have to choose to come out now?" he cursed under his breath as he took down another pre-Kishin demon. She would be leaving anytime soon and he was still stuck in the midst of the mission, and dealing with the pre-Kishins horde which popped out from nowhere. Snarling, he sliced off the head of another and proceeded with deal with the next opponent, to take it down as fast as he could. He needed to hurry back to his apartment.

It took quite awhile to clear the place when he happened to glance at his watch. It was already eight, and way too late to hurry back. She had left.

He swore loudly and punched a fist into the ground, ignoring the frostbite that was getting into his bleeding hands. Mirani and the duty group looked at the scythe sadly, they knew exactly what was going on, since Stein told them everything that day when he caught up with them to pass on some orders. All she could do to comfort the scythe's disappointment by placing a hand on his head.

"I believe you will see her again someday." was all she could say.

"But, when will that 'someday' be?" his voice started to shudder.

Biting on to the fact that he had missed his chance, he stood up and started to walk back to the group when a sweetly memorable voice called his name with a hint of uncertainty.

"Soul!"

Immediately, his head snapped towards the direction of the owner of that voice. He saw Kid hovering in midair with Beelzebub but that was not the objective. A young lady in a white long winter coat was running towards him, she had the coat's hood on but he could see a few long locks of the familiar dark ash hazel rippling with the wind with the help of the moonlight. He could not see her features clearly due to the dark, with the moon hanging in the mid sky, she looked heavenly from head to toe.

"Maka?" he started to say when he felt himself being engulfed in a hug. Automatically he raised his arms to hold her back tightly. He definitely heard a small sob. He was totally speechless about the encounter that he felt his brain freezing up. He could not believe it. He was right now hugging the person he wanted to see the most after being apart for years. She broke the hug and fumbled with the scarf she had around her neck, proceeding to place it delicately around his. She raised her head up to register his face for a few seconds before turning away.

"I… need to go… take care." Her voice was trembling as she said that.

"Maka…" he tried to reach out a hand to touch her face but she was already running towards Kid, and the next second, she disappeared with a flash into the Beelzebub. Kid gave him a knowing smile before saying a "See'ya!" and was gone in a blink of an eye.

He was standing at the spot, inhaling in the lingering scent of hers when Mirani decided that it was time to go back. He was in a trance state as he travelled with the group back to the headquarters, and could not register clearly what happened in between the time line. He finally found himself in his apartment after sometime.

The apartment smelled of her despite of her only staying for a few days. He saw that all the books were back in place and immediately knew that she meddled with them during her stay. He chuckled. He went to the kitchen and saw food on the table with a note filled with her handwriting tucked underneath one of the wrapped plates.

"Idiot. The food turned cold, thought that you will come back on time before I leave. Guess not. Remember to heat them up before eating alright? Hope you liked my cooking, and missed my cooking. Love, Maka."

He glanced at the food she prepared, they were mostly his favourites. He had to smile. He definitely missed and had liked her cooking since they day they live in together. He went back to his room to change out for dinner when he remembered the scarf around his neck. He took it off and had a good look at it, and after a few minutes, realized that it was the exact scarf both of them shared during their times together during the winder periods back in Death. He absent-mindedly glanced towards his bed and saw a neatly wrapped package lying on it, with a small card stuck in the middle.

"Dear Soul. How are you? It has been, quite, a lot of years since we last got see each other. Since Christmas is near, I decided to get this as your Christmas gift, hope you liked it. As for that ton of gifts you sent to me, I loved every single one of them, thank you! I saw that pile of gifts at the corner of your room, I am taking them, since they are for me, hehe. Thanks again. This card is too small, can't find a bigger one, wanted to write an essay of a letter to you though. This place's communication system sucked. Take care, okay?

PS: Idiot, you are hopeless. I missed you too."

Smiling, he looked towards the corner where he placed the gifts he accumulated, indeed they were gone. He unwrapped the gift she left for him and out fell a jacket. He loved it. She definitely knew his taste for clothes very well. He sat on his bed, staring at the card while gripping onto the scarf and the jacket, recalling the event that happened a few hours ago. It was sweet, but too brief. He missed her too much. And the clothes she wore reminded him of the nick he used to call her.

He smiled to himself, ran a hand through his hair while hugging the two pieces of fabrics tight.

"You are the best gift I ever had, my _Yuki Hime_."

* * *

**Author's final words to this chapter:**

Thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter. As for this chapter, don't ask me why their meeting is waaay too brief. It meant to be like that. Not to worry, they will reunite again, but at the moment, it isn't the right time to. So, cheer up, i wil do justice to this entire saga, have a great holiday =)


	8. Chapter 8 Temperature

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

* * *

Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Seven: Temperature

**Soul **

He got back from a mission earlier on. His physical self was screaming for attention, for a good rest to let go all the fatigue it suffered. Somehow, he was used to torturing himself. Physical pain seemed to be the only way to keep his mind off emotional stress. The more intense the pain, the better. He liked it that way.

Today was the fourth day of the sixth year running, since the year he departed Death City. He missed that one week break which was over long ago. In fact, that was the only break he had got since his started his so-called, never ending mission.

_Curse you, Asura! Just reveal yourself already! I don't want to handle all your stupid minions anymore dammit! Just lemme kill you for god sake! I really want to kill you! And mince you up with pleasure! _

The mission stole all his freedom. He wondered how long would he be stuck at the mission. It seems that, as long as the Kishin is in the hiding, the mission will not halt. He clenched his fists into balls. Veins popping and he could feel that the frustrations that built up within him will explode upon a triggering of the emotional switch. He awed himself for holding on to those inner explosives for over 6 years.

_I want to go back. I really want to go back! Let me out! Please! _

Yet, he could not defy the orders. The first fight with Kishin left a mental imprint within him. Her screaming in pain. Her getting hurt when he was down. Her almost dying. Her blood gushing from her wounds. The thoughts pained him even more. Only he could protect her. She was safe and sound in Death at the moment, but what if the city got a surprise attack? She could be dead anytime. What if she got a mission? Who is going to protect her, die for her, and shield her? Yet, he just, could not go back.

He buried his face into his palms, face twisted with agony. He did not realize that he was shivering uncontrollably. Somewhere within him a searing pain engulfed him. He needed something to release everything that boiled up inside him. Because he had the endurance, those emotional frustrations were cruelly dumped aside every time he wanted to let go. He must not lose his cool.

He happened to glance across the living room to his bedroom, with its door ajar. The single picture on the desk was the only thing keeping himself intact. He stride across the living room and pounced onto the framed photograph. The feeling of holding the picture close to his chest provided him a temporary relief. It would be much different if she was at his side. Just like that Christmas where they met only briefly. He wanted more.

_If I could hold her again… _

He had to make do with what he got. He fell backwards onto his bed, still holding on to the picture frame. He held it up to his face and gently scraped an index finger across the beautiful face behind the thin layer of glass, while looking at it tenderly. Subconsciously, he gently allowed his lips to touch the picture, closing his eyes before holding it to his chest. He did not understand why he was behaving like this. It seemed as if the monster within him was on the verge of bursting out of him any minute.

_What has become of me now? _

The day passed with ease. Somehow, even at night, he was still feeling very agitated. He NEEDED to vent his frustrations out.

Decided that he would be going alone for the hunt, he quietly sneaked out of the headquarters' gate. He dared not travel on his bike, fearing that the engine noise would cause a disturbance to the awfully quiet night atmosphere. Skillfully, he dodged past the security and managed to find himself right at the towering walls surrounding the entire headquarter estate. In the past, he can totally forget about wall scaling, he doesn't have the skill to do so. Being a Death Scythe now, that was a piece of cake. Making sure that his shoes were void of mud, he stepped back and leapt forward, applied some pressure on a certain height of the wall with his left foot and pushed himself upwards. He managed to reach the top of the security wall and leapt over to the other side.

Successfully out. Time to kill.

He went back to the place where he stopped this morning. Reckless or not, for acting alone, he could care less. Focusing himself on his new objective, or rather, hobby, for controlling his sanity, maybe killing things will do pretty nicely. He nearly facepalmed himself, wondering when he became a Stein wannabe. Sprouting a long sleek black scythe blade from the back of his right hand, he stepped into danger zone.

He could feel their movements. It seems that, _they_ are more active at night, maybe it will be a good chance to discover something since traces of _them_ are almost everywhere, and being able to sense soul presences like his former Meister, that makes thing so much easier all the time. An evil glint lighted up and danced in the ruby pupils, flashing wildly, like the blood which will be splattered across the ground in a few moments time. For some reason, the bloodlust within him bloomed into the heat which wrapped around him, the metamorphosis of a devil which was released from its cradle. Like the rose, with its petals opened up at its maximum beauty, to showcase the beauty it has been hiding for long. Like his thirst for freedom. Blood is the key to quench it.

Before he knew it, he was having his heated solo battle with the demons created by Asura's Madness. He poured all his frustrations out, ripping whatever that got into his path. For every kill, profanity and cursing about his epic fail life escaped from him. He was not aware that he was hollering out inner thoughts which he never dared to voice out in front of the Organization. Screaming out how the mission had slowly forced him to hate the Academy for taking away his freedom, separated him away from his clique, and how badly he was pining for his former Meister. Neither was he aware of the tears that were pouring out from the corners of his eyes as he continued to let his insanity that built up within him for six years took over his sane side.

Corpses of the undead and the demons, with their limbs torn in an animalistic way, splattering ligaments and crushed bones, scattered all over the place. The night was dyed with a crimson atmosphere and the ground was an abstract of hastily painted scarlet drenched abominations. The scene looked as if a nuke was dropped on it, a total massacre. Any normal person witnessing the scene would have got himself scared to death, especially what state the cause of the mass slaughter was in. That went on for hours, yet, he did not stop. Six years of frustrations, six years of pain, six years of unanswered questions that stacked to the brim of his mind. If he continued to keep them compressed within himself, he might ended up becoming another Asura.

Holding up the last kill, as it was struggling to leash out at its hunter, the blood painted Glasgow-like grin stretched across his face. Plunging a scarlet drenched blade into its abdomen, he proceeded to toy with his kill, swiftly tearing upwards as it screams and proceeding up to its upper torso. Upon slicing the throat of the last elite demon into half, he dropped the corpse and finally collapsed onto the cold ground, his body screaming for rest. There was nothing left for him to kill anymore. Soul did not realize that he had just wiped out the entire population of Kishin's minions in Heilnite. Those freaks would not have any more backups to replicate anymore. There they lay, in a huge pile of bloody mess, limbs torn and sliced up by just one intruder, which slowly diffused into nothingless and countless number of pre-Kishin souls floating around him, illuminating the scarlet night.

_I feel much better… but still… _

Covered with external wounds from head to toe, his body decided to shut down and allowed himself to fall into the depths of the hibernation abyss.

A rough prod on his shoulder stirred him conscious. He was still lying on the cold cement ground of the suspected hideout of the Kishin-to-be.

"Soul, Soul… are you still alive? Speak to me!" a female voice was calling out to him worriedly.

His vision was blurred, he could not move. He managed to get a single word out of his lips.

"…Maka?"

**General POV **

Marie Mjolnir was startled when she heard the name Soul just said. She looked up at the group that was with her. She, along with Stein, was ordered by the Shinigami to travel straight to Heilnite to check on the mission Soul was undertaking. Apparently, strong waves of Madness were suddenly detected from Shibusen headquarters in the direction of Heilnite last night. This morning, when the group could not find Soul anywhere, they decided to conduct an immediate search, fearing that he might have gotten himself into some mishap.

Stein placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He must have really missed her a lot."

He looked up at the field of mess which Soul created. Other than the pre-Kishin souls, dull scarlet blood splatters on the ground were seen accompanied along with broken rumbles and concrete.

"I could not believe he took down the ENTIRE horde just by himself! That is reckless! He could have died!" Marie whispered.

The medic in the group went forward to check on Soul. Stein walked a few paces when he stopped abruptly. The barrier which surrounded the areas they tried to scout in the previous few years was broken. The forest was no longer a labyrinth. He was staring at an extremely huge hole on the ground a good few meters ahead which was never there in the first place when they scouted the area. Its circumference was comparable to that of a regular town, stretching itself over miles and miles of landscape. The presence must have gotten concealed by the barrier, which was probably caused by something having abnormally large amount of energy lurking within. His own suspicion was right after all. He looked around. Apparently Soul did a good deal of damage to the entire landscape outside where the barrier was supposed to be. But what exactly did he do to break that barrier? However there wasn't any more time to think. The aura emitted from that depth did not feel good at all.

Requesting Marie to bring Soul back to the headquarters for intensive treatment, the group went to examine the depth.

_Time skip to 5 hours later… _

In the headquarters' dispensary, Marie was looking after a still unconscious Soul when Stein and his group stumbled in. She was shocked to see all of them covered with serious wounds. The head doctor, Ness, was shouting down the corridor to alert all her assistants.

"Stein! Stein! What… what happened?"

Stein collapsed onto the ground breathing hard, with Marie holding onto him, hands shivering with shock.

"An unexpected attack… Maire, I guess, we have to thank that fella this time round for being reckless." He said, painfully lifting his head and looked in the direction of the bed where Soul was lying.

The Nest of Asura's abomination was right at bottom of the depth.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

Some of you guys must have read my one shot (Missing Emotion) I uploaded days ago, thanks =) Gee, after the Christmas Edition, I thought that I would want to take a break. The 7k words worth of story, hehe. Thank you all, for your sweet reviews, I appreciated them from the first letter to the fullstop. I am really glad that you all liked it so much, and that pretty much made up most of my Christmas =) Love you guys 3

So, moving on. Looks like Soul's mission got more complications. So what exactly is the thing, so strong that caused to barrier to be broken? Guess.

Soul's Madness, of course. You guys should know why ;)

Well, my computer will be off for servicing and I thought that I will upload this before I go. Hopefully it will be back so that I can continue to write. All I can say that, the way the two meet in person again the next time will be very unexpected. After finishing this entire saga, I am planning to write some one shots, more of RE kind of sagas, fluffs and re write another author's incompleted story. I was browsing through them and saw alot of dramatic ones that got alot of potential... XD

Will upload again when I get back my computer. Thanks for reading and all the support. Have a great day ahead =)


	9. Chapter 9 With You

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Eight: With You

**Maka**

She woke up from a long sleep. She realized that she dozed off on the couch reading the novel Soul got her. She had been reading it for a ton lot of times, but somehow, it never got any boring. She climbed out of the couch and placed the book back onto the shelf, aching from head to toe. While giving her aching self a good stretch, she happened glance in the direction where the calendar was hung.

Soon it would be Graduation Day. Which means the results will be out soon.

She sighed. He won't be coming back for the graduation obviously. His mission was taking a hell lot of years. Being used to living with him, Maka did not like the current situation at all. Sometimes, inwardly she blamed the Shinigami for tearing Soul and her apart, other times, she blamed the Kishin. This would be the sixth year running. She longed to see him again. She missed his hugs that would never fail to relax her nerves all the time. The previous encounter is too short for her, but she knows that she could not complain.

All the hallucinations she was suffering from, sooner or later, driving her straight into emotional breakdown.

Liz had told her that the single photograph which she posed for during the prom was sent to Soul through Kid. Thinking about that made her nervous. How would Soul react seeing her picture? Hopefully it would be a very positive reaction. She remembered how pissed off she was when he suffered extreme nose bleeding every time Blair pounced onto him and massaging his face with her overgrown chest. Come to think of it, that feeling is more of jealousy rather than irritation about the noise pollution. What pleased her was that he was not interested in any other girls out there, especially his stupid fan girls.

Maka laid back on the couch and flashbacks of those ridiculous past events started to occupy her present thoughts.

Soul hated the fan girls. In fact. The way he glared at them from the corner of his eyes, and looking out for her safety at the same time. She suffered quite abit of serious bullying back then, after she turned him into a Death Scythe.

Which was when the Soul-Attraction frenzy started. Those blasted fan girls, they are a living nightmare. Fan girls all over the school sent him tons of love letters that chocked his entire locker as much as the hate mails in her locker. They went as far as requesting him to be their partner along with their so-called undying love confessions while pulling all sorts of pranks and lies on her to get her away from Soul for their confessions to be smooth sailing. After that, they started delivering their home made lunchboxes and pastries to him during lunch break while throwing hers away. And the worst was that, Maka's own physical safety was compromised. Every day during that era of Soul-Attraction nonsense, she would be suffering unwanted injuries. She got pushed from the top of the stairs, and having pails of water dumped onto her from time to time, so much that she developed a phobia walking under the open corridors. Not forgetting those extreme cases like her being assassinated in the girl's toilet, the best place to be bullied without Soul's protection.

Maka herself has got excellent reflexes to avoid the majority of attacks, but not totally. Until the point when she dislocated and fractured her right arm, Soul had enough of the entire nonsense. And how he reacted, seeing her injury.

"_Maka…? Please look at me, please. Don't scare me…" _

_Soul's worried face came into view, voice quivering. He was panicking. She slowly parted her eye lids and painfully brought her gaze to land upon his face. _

"_It… hurts… a fracture… I think. I… I…"_

"_Maka, Maka, don't talk, and hang on, please." _

_Strong arms scooped her up. He was shaking. There were several emotions displaying on his face at the same time. Fear, worry, sad, heartbroken, helpless, fury. She was numb with pain to decide what kind of expression was that. Ignoring the people around him, Soul rushed her straight to the Dispensary. _

_Took quite a while before she was sent to the hospital for X-Rays and treatment. She finally got out with a huge cast on a sling, pale in face and feeling weak all over. She happened to glance at him as they were walking to his bike, his arm protectively wrapped around her shoulders. Never had she ever seen that expression before, which caused her to have this fleeting impulse to hug him and cry. _

_He was looking at her cast, with the most painful expression on his face. _

Maka raised the arm in question and stared at it. That accident was quite a few years ago, when she and Soul joined the newly formed Spartori, the elite student Meister Weapon group. She could not forget how he reacted in front of the entire school at the point of time of her arm injury. Despite the intense pain, she was totally speechless seeing Soul reacting that way.

_Soul was howling on the top of his voice with much fury, fists clenched and with the scariest looking expression plastered across his face, as he gently scooped the injured girl into a sitting position. The crowd moved back abruptly as he stood up. _

"_FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR LIVES LEAVE MY GIRL ALONE! I WILL KILL THE NEXT BLOODY MORON WHO DARES TO LAY A FINGER ON HER!" _

_The last thing she remembered was his voice, which came out as a sob as he whispered her name, before she passed out, not being able to endure the pain which started to shoot up to her neck. _

Now he was not around to protect her from whatever dangers she might encounter. She missed that. And she loved it when he was getting protective of her. Something warm will always erupt from within. A very nice and addictive feeling which will leave you wanting for more.

Bullying cases ceased after that incident. Although the fan mails to Soul and anonymous hate mails to her were on going. Many said nasty things like she seducing Soul and other rubbish. Soul simply pushed her aside without saying anything when they reached her locker. Slamming the locker door open, he grabbed all the hate mails and chucked them into the trash bin together with the bundle of love letters he received. A monstrous look always erupted across his face when other girls tried to come near.

She remembered how many fatal blows he took for her during their missions. The first one with him having his torso being sliced across during their first encounter with Crona. The last time he protected her was during their final mission. That one caused him to lie in the Dispensary for two straight weeks. The mission was a total success but not with him injured. Ignoring her treatment she rushed straight to his bedside, with blood all over and wounds and so, and bawled her eyes out for the entire night. She never failed to melt into his gentleness which he only showed to her when both of them were alone just with each other. The loving touch from his hand stroking her tear stained face before pulling her into a tight embrace.

"_See? Silly girl. I am alright, alive and kicking. Don't cry, 'kay? Not saying this to make you feel better, but, I always feel so damn cool even time I protected you from those crazy attacks."_

She felt stupid eating alone. She felt dumb walking alone in the streets. She felt uncomfortable with another weapon when given a mission. She felt dejected when his fan girls jeered at her from far, but never failed to cover it up with her murderous intentions in physical when provoked to her limits.

He had promised that he would always be with her, protecting her.

Where the hell is he now?

Since his departure, those fan girls of his started to do what they used to do to her before her injury. However, she could not be bothered to avoid the horde of them. Gone were the days where she was depending on Soul's protection to survive school, or being a model student. She made an effort to nail the fact that he was not around anymore to shield her. The effort was painful.

Somehow she had taken up Soul's attitude and his so-called coolness during her university days. She would not hesitate to beat the crap out of those girls provided if they decided to entertain her with their foolishness. And Ox's attempts to irritate her. He left her alone when he realized that the rule abiding Maka was long gone and was replaced by a lone volatile fighter who might explode anytime if provoked to the limits.

Even so, the feeling of the victory was just empty.

She closed her eyes and concentrated hard to remember the feeling his soul gave her. She did this every time when she felt alone, or when she yearned for his protection when she needed it. Even though they were far apart, she knew he could feel her too.

She felt a vibration. It was coming for far away, the presence. It reacted to hers. For a moment, it felt as if her soul was gently wrapped within someone else's. The feeling of him holding on to her when she was in trouble or in need of comfort. Feels exactly the same. Feels so warm.

Maka slowly pressed a palm to her chest, at where her heart laid beneath. She knew that presence. He knew. He felt it.

Even though he was far away, he's always there.

**Soul **

He had recovered from his injuries, and was given another short stretch of break to recuperate his physical part of himself. The headquarters reprimanded him for his impulsiveness but that was just for show. They were grateful, and it seemed that the mission was near to a close. Just that they were short of people to raid the hidden underground 'organization' which he uncovered by incident. Right now, the entire bunch in the headquarters was making preparations.

More phrases of missions ahead. He frowned hard. No good at all.

Jazz continue to float through the apartment, as usual, with him resting on the couch. He hated to resonate with someone other than her. Most of the time, he decided to fight alone. He carefully packed away his inner self and did not let those Meisters who wield him to discover that part in him. That was only meant for her and only her. It was pretty difficult holding back his full potential, but for her sake, he did not mind a bit.

Out of the blue, he felt a tugging feeling within him, gently nudging his soul for comfort. He knew what caused that. He closed his eyes slowly to let his soul touch it. She was trying to reach out for him. Gently, he allowed his soul to grasp that presence which resonated towards him from far away. He felt a strange but familiar warmth when that presence reacted to his reaction. Like the feeling of that brief hug they shared during the Christmas evening.

He smiled.

"It's alright, girl, I am here."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

Got back my comp a few days ago, sorry for the late update x.x

Well, this is just the starting. More coming up X) While Soul got into mroe trouble after this chapter, Maka is dealing with hers. Not gonna say more, no spoilers here, ahahahaa~

Uploaded the picture i drew for the Christmas chapter to my deviantart site, do check it out if you want to ^^

Thanks for remembering my existence, lol, and thanks again for readin this XD Have a great day ahead~ 3


	10. Chapter 10 Further

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Nine: Further

**Maka **

She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection while deciding what to wear for the graduation.

A few days ago, the exam result slip was sent to her house by mail, along with Soul's. Apparently, he took his Weapon Mastery final exam over at Heilnite. Even without looking at her result slip, she knew she got the top position for the examination. Which was proved right after examining the slip of paper along with the long notification letter. Smirking to herself, she wondered how Ox would react when he read his letter. He wasn't the second, instead he got pushed back to the fifth, according to the Meister rankings printed in the top ten percentile list. Out of curiosity, she tore open Soul's envelope and pulled out his result slip to examine it. She was pretty surprised with his grades. He appeared in the list of the top ten percentile of the Weapon cohort. For the first time she was seeing only A grades coming from Soul. The cumulative results were pretty balanced.

The feeling of pride having him as her Weapon soared within her once again. She was happy for him. Apparently, despite his laid back surface, seems that he has got his serious side for studies too.

She turned back to the wardrobe and skimmed through the clothes. After wavering for about half an hour, she pulled out a white high collared body hugging blouse with a pair of dark denim jeans. After doing her hair, she reached for the black Victorian trench coat which Soul had sent her along with the whole bunch of gifts she received months ago. She had to admit that, all thanks to the clothes Soul sent her, her fashion sense got much better somehow.

She wondered how was he able to pick out the right clothes for her when he had not seen her (probably just that prom picture which Liz told her about) for more than six years. He definitely got the taste for clothes.

Tsubaki wanted to drop by, but she refused to let her, in fear to having her discovering her little secret, the grand in the living room. She promised to meet up with her around eleven at Shibusen main gates, with BlackStar, Liz and Patty. Kid was still out of Death City doing his mission.

The Graduation Day was the day she was looking forward to. After graduating from Shibusen , she would not be worrying about school work anymore. Rather, missions and her future career awaited her. A weird feeling blossomed from her gut, she could not understand why so. In a way, it was pretty pleasing to get out of school, a happy occasion. However she decided to take the gloomier view. The possible things she would be doing after graduation started to stack themselves up in her mind. She shook it off.

She went down the apartment block and met Blair, who decided to drop by to pay her a visit, knowing that it was her graduation day. She had stopped working in the cabaret a while ago and officially became the Shinigami's assistant informant and Spell Caster. Blair pounced onto her as if she was Soul and started to smother her with her killer hugs.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa! Geez, Blair?"

"Nyaaaaaan! Makaa-chan! Blair-chan's here to visit you! Congratulations, I have heard from Shinigami-sama that you are the best in finals! Nya!" The cat witch started to rub her face against hers.

"Well, yea thanks! Erm, you are going to suffocate me." Maka tried to pry herself from Blair. Two sets of boobs pressing together was not a good idea at all. Blair ignored that second sentence and squeezed her even more tightly.

"Maka-chan's gotten so much cuter, nyaan!"

"Ok ok, I get it, thanks! So. Where are you going next?"

"Silly, to Shibusen of course! Nyaa!"

"Ah, want a ride?"

"Sure!"

She hopped onto her, or rather, his bike and sped off, with Blair in her cat form clinging onto her back, towards Shibusen.

"Mhmmmm Maka-chan, since when did you learn how to ride a bike?"

"Since that idiot went for his stupid long term mission, I think. But then, I need transport, so…"

"Oooooooo! Well, Blair-chan missed Soul-kun." The cat whined. Maka got an impression that the cat was pouting inwardly as the cat pawed at her hair. Somehow she felt a slight tingle to jealousy when the cat witch said that. How could she say that so easily, geez! She inhaled a deep breath to relax her verves when Blair shot this sentence out.

"Nyaaaa noticed that Maka-chan doesn't look cheerful anymore since Soul-kun is gone."

"Wha… what? Nah not really…" she stammered.

The cat scooched up to Maka's shoulders and observed her reaction. The young woman had an uncomfortable look on her face, accompanied with a slight frown, but the faint pinkish tint across her cheeks was unmistakably a blush. The cat smirked. She already knew there was definitely something between the Meister and the Weapon since long ago.

"Blair-chan knows, you can't hide your feelings." She purred.

"What feelings?"The woman muttered under her breath.

"There's no need for Blair-chan to spell it out. Maka-chan knows herself. You know it, definitely. Nyaaaan."

"For who?"

"Soul-kun of course. Don't pretend, nyaaa."

Not until Blair's enlightment and reminder, Maka did not really think much about her feelings towards Soul. All she knew was that she missed his presence a lot. The most difficult thing to understand is about the heart. She could not quite get it. Books said nothing. She stopped depending on books for answers long ago. They weren't always the right way to deal with things she could not understand. Like music for instance. She pondered over Blair's statement all the way to Shibusen. But all she was able to conclude was that, the feelings she and Soul were definitely more than just partners. Wasn't quite sure about what exactly that feeling was. Maybe she would be able to find out soon? Probably.

Four people were waiting for her at the entrance.

"Yo, Maka! I am the one who have the ability to surpass God, bow down and greet me!" an annoying voice resounded into her ears, accompanied by a non-haughty laugh. Surprisingly, the person whom that voice belonged to said that in a casual way instead of the usual past version of amplified yelling or shouting.

Since everything was over, she finally managed to observe each individual carefully.

Maka had to admit that through the past the years, BlackStar matured a lot. Even the way he attracted all the attention. Now, he was one of the top Meisters Death City had and attention came to him automatically. Plus, it was really weird for that guy to 'mute' all his biological internal 'voice blasters' with that hyper active personality of his. Probably due to him being a co-guardian of the little witch, Angela, whom Mifune was looking after while being a Meister instructor in Shibusen. She remembered all the funny scenes where Angela, whining and pulling at BlackStar's hair while he piggyback her, during the days here he got a lot of spare time to nanny her. He was known as "Spikey" to Angela.

Now, BlackStar emerged as a tall, muscular and tanned Meister after those years. Angela was as close to him as that with Mifune and Tsubaki. With his hand hooked around Tsubaki's shoulders, he grinned at her. Maka still could not get used to his change, as it was quite abrupt to her. University days took up all their time to hang around together, even though the clique hanged around for major gatherings the school organized, there wasn't much time to register each others' changes.

For Tsubaki, she was slightly overpowered by BlackStar's height. Still a pretty and fair skinned woman, she never had much changes in her, except that, she was a Death Scythe now and was able to fight alone as a Weapon. Not to mention that she was engaged to BlackStar, and this was already known throughout the entire Shibusen quite some time ago.

Patty had changed as well. Although still having that exaggerated personality, she managed to tame that and unleash it on the right timing. Her hair had grown longer and she was no more the bubbly giggling girl she used to be. She was standing at the same height as her sister. The mischievous glint in her eyes was still there though. She was a Death weapon now, and was pretty skillful in terms of martial arts (not as much as BackStar) and playing pranks.

Liz got her hair ends permed. Like her younger sister, she was a Death weapon. The snobbish attitude of hers was still there, but she became more womanly past the years. She had taken a liking to crack sarcastic jokes and developed a habit to punch holes in faces of people whom she was pissed with. However, her intelligence level had shot up by leaps, even Maka herself was pretty surprised with that aspect of change. She managed to change her hands into piston-forms for combat purpose, unlike her younger sister.

They dragged Maka along into the main hall where all the students gathered, chattering excitedly as if they had not seen each others for years. In fact, they had not talked like that for quite a long time since their university level of education started, despite seeing each other almost every day. Somehow, due to the changes in each of them, they had slight difficulty handling each other's new way of speech, which, to Maka, was pretty amusing.

The Graduation ceremony was pretty boring. She could not help but giving Ox a smug grin as she walked past where he was sitting. But right when her name was announced for her to go up and receive the certificate for both graduation and being the top of the cohort, BlackStar decided to spice things up by doing a loud wolf-whistle. Somehow, after the entire saga, she rushed off the stage, expecting someone to be standing there to congratulate her with a hug and a smirk. She sighed. Of course, he wasn't around. When Soul's name was announced, Maka had to go up the stage to receive his certificates for him. The feeling was just as happy as that when she received hers, but she could not suppress the small disappointment of him not being around lingering in her. With a smug smile plastered on her face, she swiftly put up a rude sign with her middle finger at Soul's fan girls who were booing at her from the parapet above the hall a while ago before agitating them even further by kissing his certificates which well accompanied with a smug smile. With her back facing the professors and the Shinigami, of course.

She was called to the Shinigami's Head Office straight away after the graduation ceremony. She wondered if it was going to concern about her future career as she kicked her father out of her way. The news totally surprised her, and made her even more frustrated.

"You will be going on a mission, it is an emergency, Maka-chan."

"May I know what will it be, the mission?"

"Crona-chan was sent to Ivanov for investigation, they needed backup there, although…"

"Yes, Shinigami-sama?"

"I wanted to put you in Soul-kun's mission to work with him, they need rein enforcements there too, but it seems that Crona-chan's mission case is much more urgent. The war will breakout anytime at Ivanov. Madness was already spreading everywhere, they have already got a number of the citizens there infected. And the rate of infection seemed to be multiplying per day passed."

"What? That's serious!"

"The people there can only be out of the curse if the two witches and the Kishin clone are killed. One more thing, the Kishin clone has taken a definite form and matured into another Asura, and that isn't going anywhere near good. The headquarters at Ivanote are way short of people."

Maka could only stare at the Shinigami in shock.

"So, you will be departing in three days time. It will take quite a while. But when you come back, I will have to arrange you to be one of our professors, those youngsters need a good teacher like you, Maka-chan. Are you okay with this? I know it is quite sudden."

"I understand, Shinigami-sama."

"You will meet up with Liz-chan and Patty-chan together at the Shibusen gates. The three of you will be going along with Zherphon's group. Get the two ladies into my office after this, I will brief them personally."

"Roger that, Shinigami-sama."

As she turned to leave, the Shinigami called out to her.

"Maka-chan?"

"Yes, Shinigami-sama?"

"I know that you are disappointed that I did not put you into Soul-kun's mission."

Shinigami had seen the crestfallen face the young lady had whipping across her face, even it was just for a few seconds, when he told her about not putting her into Soul's mission. He could sense that the Meister must have missed her Weapon a lot, but he knew it could not be helped, with bad situations popping all over the place. It had been more than six years since the two last seen each other. The young woman paused for quite some time before replying quietly, "I wasn't. It is an important mission, and your orders, I will not ask for more. Many helpless people out there are in danger. It is my responsibility to protect them."

"I am really sorry about that. Thank you for understanding Maka-chan. You know you can talk to me anytime."

After giving Liz and Patty Shinigami's orders, she excused herself by pretending to have a bad migraine to get back home fast. She buried herself into Soul's bed and pulled the covers over her head. The intense squeezing feeling of her heart was making her fall apart. She did not know whether it was anger, extreme disappointment or the feeling of losing someone as if it was forever. She sat up abruptly and let out an anguished scream, grabbing her head and curling up in a fetal position, letting her emotions overtake her sane self.

For the rest of the day she could not stop her eyes from overflowing with her anguish. Or rather, agony.

It seemed as if, they were going to drift even further apart.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

Yes, I know I am very late with the updates. Am busy but trying my best q.q Please forgive me, people

Anyways, Maka is being sent off to a new mission. When on earth will they meet again, you ask? Lets leave it to fate. Trust me, they will.

Thanks for the reviews, love you guys for reading. Just to remind you guys again, this story is still going on. Thanks for dropping by to read this ^^

Have a nice day! Really really hope to update again soon q.q 3


	11. Chapter 11 Madness

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Ten: Madness

**Soul **

The same duty as usual, but the atmosphere was more serious than before. The boredom was killing him.

He was in the midst of scouting the area which he accidently discovered after his massacre at the area in question. He finally recovered fully from his injuries and was up in no time. He wanted to distract himself to stop thinking about things that would cause him to go nuts, even though the results of his efforts were not very effective. Pain did slightly numb everything, but he could not keep his thoughts controlled anymore. Every day was a torture for him. He had to make a huge effort to pull himself together whenever he was on the verge of collapsing.

But he was moving towards total emotional breakdown soon, he knew it. He went to the extent to getting her picture from the prom scanned for an extra copy and cropped out so that it fitted the transparent flap of his wallet. He could not pass a day without looking at her picture. It was not a habit anymore. It was more like an addiction, an obsession. He knew it, but he loved it, and he was enjoying it. All he had of her was the recent picture, the old one which was stuck on the other side of his wallet, and the one they took together before he departed for Heilnite. Other than that, one of her favourite coat in her wardrobe which she could not wear anymore. He hugged it to sleep every day, breathing in the faint strawberry caramel scent which never failed to get him hooked. Those were the only things that were able to provide him the comfort he needed.

Maybe he should try to reach out for her soul like what she did that time, when he was recuperating. Doing that every day may seem to be a really great idea. He made a mental note to try doing that later. Ever since the first time she forced her soul resonance to echo like that, he was already addicted. He was always constantly alert to those signals, and wanted to respond to them on time, so that she would continue doing that frequently. Which proved to be right. Almost every day, he was able to catch that resonation vibration, and heartily returning the favor. He was dying for physical contact, but right now, Soul Recall was the only thing he had to feel her.

The cage around him was closing up more and more upon him. Every single day he prayed and prayed to be freed. The complications of the mission seemed to get more and more twisted like a Labyrinth. He just could not get out. He expected things to be easier when he found the hidden hideout. But it made matters worse. The other Meisters and Weapons seemed to only have commitments with nothing else but this mission. Which explains, none of them were married, or even had a partner. A _partner_. A life time commitment.

Not for him. Someone was waiting for him far away, and he was trying to get back to her. She was his first priority commitment, but he was not able to commit his devotion towards his former Meister ever since he left Death City. The mission was a total hindrance. Not only that, he could not enjoy university life. He did all his studies in Heilnite and there would always be someone at the headquarters would get him all his assignments, tests and exams via mail delivery. Higher level instructors who were in charge coaching him in his studies were not as relaxed as those that were in Shibusen. At the same time, that giving him more mental pressure, adding a few extra anvils to his emotional stress.

Kid drop by sometimes, but every time it lasted for less than half an hour.

This kind of life isn't any cool at all.

And her Soul Recalling was getting more and more frequent. All he knew was the fact that she was still alive and kicking. It seems that she wanted to reach for him as well. And his obsession to feel her 'touch' intensified day by day.

He and the group went into the once hidden pit, and a small industrial town revealed in front of his eyes. The numbers hidden within the town were too overwhelming for a small group to take care of. Right now, they need information about what laid in the midst of it, so that they were able to plot a flawless attack, with as little causalities as possible. The previous assault was too sudden. The previous group was attacked by a huge wave of Madness infected army of demons, which were once humans. Like the horde he slaughtered, they were able to replicate, however, double the amount of that of those which were slain dead by him. The further they went in, the more the stillness of air around them. The group could feel the chilling aura of the looming Madness form the depths of the hidden town. The atmosphere was downright eerie. Stein had got Marie by his side for good, he could worry less about the possibility of Madness influencing his mental prospect.

However, Madness was not caused just by merely overloading thoughts and the unwillingness to let go. It could target anyone, anywhere.

It hit Soul out of nowhere. He did not realize it. It was already there.

The group turned to see him still in his tracks. Head bowed, he was swaying slightly. Stein knew something was wrong. Ordering the group to keep a look out, he and Marie cautiously approached him.

"Soul!" Stein said sharply, gripping his shoulder and shook it hard. The Death Scythe had a blank look on his face when he looked up. Eerily blank. The Death Scythe looked very lost, and was staring through Stein. Marie had a frightened look stretched across her face, she knew that the way Soul was reacting had got something to do with Madness. Flashes of the past when she encountered a Madness infected Stein began to play in her mind, and comparing the symptoms of the infection, Soul was showing similar signs. But of all people, he should be the less likely one to be infected, being a stable, rational and calm guy from head to toe. What exactly triggered it in him?

The scythe collapsed onto the ground all of a sudden. He started to shake uncontrollably, and burying his hands into his face. He felt a certain pressure against his soul, and that pressure was trying to break through his barrier to get in. Was that the Madness wave? Flashes of memories of his former Meister started to flick in front of his eyes. Stein disappeared from his view. Soul raised his hands from his face to clutch his head. An intense pain shot through his head as he tried to resist the pressure.

_Soul… soul… _

He snapped his head upwards. An apparition appeared in front of him, glowing with a silvery light surrounding it. He squinted his eyes to have a clearer look, the light was blinding. The huge glow of light slowly took the shape of his former Meister in her teens, and it knelt in front of him, hands reaching out to touch the sides of his face. It looked at him intensely, those eyes seemed to pierce through his, and for a split second, he had the urge to pull it into his arms. It was a face he always wanted to see in person through the years of absence from Death City. He fought hard to suppress the urge, and the pain which was shooting through his head a while ago seemed to have abated. The apparition smiled at him. It looked so real…

_Ne, Soul… it has been some time… do you miss me? _

He slowly lifted his head a little higher. The atmosphere suddenly felt so warm. Trembling vigorously, his arms reached out to touch the apparition. It stretched out its arms in response.

_Maka… Maka… I missed you, Maka… so much… _

_Why Soul, why did you not take me along? It hurts… _

Soul felt tears trickling down his cheeks, he could not control his emotions. He took hold of the apparition and slid his arms gently around its waist, pulling it into a loving hug. He always wanted to do so for a long time. The very last time he held her was at the end of their very last mission, before he left for the current one. That was more than eight years already. The hug he gave her, with a mixture of relief, worry and a decent dose of his feelings towards her. Holding onto 'her' like that felt really nice, he did not want to let go, with fear gripping his heart, afraid that 'she' might disappear. But, how did she 'appear' in the middle of his mission? However, that question only lingered for a few seconds before a hand gently ran through his hair, and the thought dissolved into nothingness once again. Voices started to echo in the void of darkness.

_Don't go… stay with me… _

_I won't let go… _

_Then come back to me… come back, Soul… come back… _

_How…? I can't go… I can't, I don't know how… this mission… _

_Run, Soul, run away… I will take you away, that's why I am here… _

_How… _

_The Organization is a total hindrance, Soul… it separated us… and this breaks my heart_…

…

_I want them to disappear… this mission will never end, Soul… I want to be with you… don't go_…

_They will_…

'She' held him tighter. The voices nagging at him a while ago were pushed to the back of his mind. They did not matter much anymore, as 'she' was here with him. That was all he needed.

**General POV **

"No good! Something is wrong with him!" Stein started to sound frantic. The scythe did not move, he was still staring into space, and the blank expression on his face did not disappear. An eerie black aura accompanied with a blood red glow blossomed from his. Marie took a few steps back, she recognized the glow. Soul was infected by the Madness wave.

"This is getting serious!" Stein said quietly. They need to get Soul out of the area fast. Everyone could feel the waves of Madness getting thicker. The air around them was getting stale and chilly. If they dragged on, the creatures would be trailing after them. The source of attraction for Madness, would be trailed by the infected creatures luring in the dungeons, since the intensity of Madness aura would increase as the infected was tempted to accept it. Madness formation wavelength was like a drug to them.

The young Death Scythe's head snapped upwards all of a sudden. Stein leapt backwards while yelling at Marie to transform. The others of the group were all ready in combat mode. The scythe stood up and remained at the spot. His eyes filled with sorrow.

"If everything disappears, I will be able to see her again."

**Maka **

She was in the midst of packing her things when a sudden searing pain crossed her chest. She collapsed onto the floor clutching her chest while breathing with difficulty. It was too sudden and she could not think straight or react. Agony plastered across her face while she held onto the bed post for support. The urge to cough got better of her. She rushed to the bathroom and gripped the edge of the sink, while coughing her lungs out. Perspirations broke out and dripped from her forehead as she coughed non-stop, wheezing as if she had got an asthma attack. Looking up at her reflection on the bathroom mirror above the sink, she saw a trail of crimson trickled down to her chin from the corner of her lips.

She bought a hand up to cover her mouth, a mixture of shock and fear sank into her heart. For that point of time, her coughing fits stopped. A word escaped from her lips.

"Soul…"

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

Cliff hanger huh? Everyone hates it. Who knows, but I assure you, there are more complications coming up in the next few chapters. Guess their lives are getting screwed up pretty badly *sulk*. Oh well x.x Soul is getting emotional here, well yea, being torn away from the person you loved so much is such a pain. What's more, for mroe than six years. I know because, lol, because there is a living example, that is, me and my boyfriend. We are living apart each other now, lol, he does travel down to visit me sometimes, he is dying over there and I am dying over here =.= Anyways, rest assured, I am not stopping this fic. Now that Soul is emotionally weak now, will he get tempted by illusions and got dragged down into Madness? Who knows? Gotta wait till my next update to find out X)

Sorry for the late update again, but yea, I am still working on it. Working right now and hardly have time to upload everything I have written. But then again, I am glad that you guys dropped by to read this =) Thank you. See you around!


	12. Chapter 12 Sober

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Twelve: Sober

**Maka **

It was on the day of her departure. She had packed what she needed and was waiting aimlessly for the time to pass to hit the evening so that she could go off. However, her mind was full enough for her not to feel bored. The event which happened yesterday night haunted her. She remembered coughing an entire sink full of her blood and after that, a strange feeling of coldness seemed to linger around her soul since then. She had rushed to the schools Dispensary to look for Kim and Nygus for a checkup right after she recovered from the faint that had her lying in the bathroom for two hours or so. Nothing was wrong with her and she was perfectly fine, was what both told her. She knew something was wrong despite the results.

Standing by Soul's bed, she pressed a hand against her chest and shut her eyes. The cold wave was still there. She started to get worried. She tried doing a Soul Recalling but every time when she did so, the coldness which wrapped around her soul caused her to drown herself into coughing fits for more than an hour, along with an indescribable pain in her chest. Right away, she confirmed that the symptoms had something to do with Soul.

The more she brood about the matter, the more worried she became. Frantically using an index finger to word out the Shinigami's contact using Soul's wardrobe mirror, with furrowed brows she clenched a fist behind her. She needed to tell the Shinigami about that. She was way too worried about her condition to feel any anticipation towards her new mission.

"Shinigami-sama? Shinigami-sama? Are you there?"

"Ohaiyo, Maka-chan! What brings you to call me early in the morning?"

"Sorry about that, Shinigami-sama, I have an urgent matter to report."

Biting her fist, she told the Death God about the yesterday event, trembling with each word. The Death God was silent for a while, digesting what the young woman told him. The situation certaintly did not sound any good at all. The young woman's face was filled with nothing but worry and clearly she was panicking inside.

"Maka-chan, go ahead with the mission, but do not do any more Soul Recalling. I suspect that it has something to do with the Madness and what they found over there…"

"Over there? Soul's…"

"Ah yes, but it would be a long story if I go into details. Soul-kun managed to discover the Kishin replica's hideout due to his recklessness. His group is currently scouting that area, and from what is reported, the Madness waves in there are extremely intensified."

"But it is impossible for Soul to be infected with Madness, he is always strong!"

"You may never know, Maka-chan. Since Soul-kun is your partner initially, it is normal for you to worry since those Soul Resonances you two did has the possibility to leave an imprint within each other. Strength does not come from the physical and mental aspect only."

"But…"

"I will keep you posted, Maka-chan. Please do not worry, with me around, everything will be fine."

The Death God bade her a farewell after comforting her for a while, asking her to rest more. From his tone, he was equally worried.

The young woman knew that she could not do anything. Chrona's mission and Soul's case were both equally worrying. What's more, Ivanov was located somewhere in Russia while Heilnite was way further, in Canada. The distances of her worries were so much stretched out and she felt that she might collapse if more things started to pile up for her to worry. Even if she was done with one, the other one would be still far from her reach. The entire Spatori batch Maka was in were dispersed to missions all over the world. Except for Kim and Ox, being a school healer and a lecturer respectively.

She decided to disobey the Shinigami's instructions about the Soul Recalling part. No matter how dangerous it was to perform Soul Recall at this point of time along with her conditions, she still wanted to try doing so. Even if she had to cough her guts out and got herself totally drained of her blood, she knew she had to try. Only she was able to reach out for Soul like that despite the distance. Soul Recalling him until she got a positive response. She could care less about the consequences of what may happen to her. Soul's safety was at priority at this point of time. If anything happened to him, it would cause her to go berserk. At the same time, she was feeling ballistic as she could not do anything much.

She threw herself onto Soul's bed and buried her face into the pillow. She lay still for a while before walking back into the bathroom. There was still quite some time before she set off for the airport.

Everything was totally messed up. She picked up a clean towel from the rack and braced herself.

**Soul **

He did not know what happened. 'She' had broken the hug and was tugging at his hand, and seemed to lead him to somewhere. It felt so wonderful being with the woman he desired all along. He had to fight back the urge to tug 'her' into his arms again. No one at the Organization could ever understand what kind of agony he was suffering from. He hid those feelings and compressed them into his heart, while a fake mask was stretched across his face to cover his pain. Those feelings accumulated and grew into a time bomb across the years and a slight trigger would cause undesirable consequences. Which was pretty much happening now. He did not realize that he had totally lost it. The 'warmth' was overpowering and he refused to leave.

"She" pulled him further. He let 'her' drag him along. It is not as if he cared anymore where he will be going next. Anything other than her won't matter much.

_Where are we going?... _

_We need to get rid of them… _

_Who… _

_Who else… silly… _

_Oh… _

_I can help you… will you help me too?... _

…

_Please don't hesitate anymore… if not, we will be separated even further… do you want that to happen? _

_NO! _

_Then… come with me… come with me… _

…

_Will you? Soul? _

…

"She" looked at him with those pair of pretty emerald eyes, with a pleading look. There was a hint of glimmer in those eyes. The grip from her hand became tighter. "She" must have really missing him a lot too. He looked into her eyes while holding on to her hand. It felt warm. He had been feeling cold since he left her. Now that 'she' is here, everything will be different. He had to admit that all along, he needed 'her'. And to fulfill that eternal wish, he needed to do something. And exterminate all the hurdles in his path. And everything. Leaving just him and 'her', it will be just fine.

_Soul? _

_Okay, you lead… _

'She' never had been happier. The smile on 'her' face had never been wider either. But, what was with that smile? His senses got lost in 'her' gaze. And that smile.

**General POV **

The scythe had twin huge, long blades sprouting from the back of both his hands. He looked at the group with an eerily calm expression. The dark menacing aura around him intensified. The air around them got even more colder than before. Everyone really freaked out on spot upon his sudden change of behavior. One of their most powerful damage cannon got influenced by Madness, it certainly did not look good. But it was unlikely that he would be infected due to the kind of person he was. The deathly aura started to attract pre-Kishins to the area where the group was held at. The creatures hover around the group, anticipating for more of the Madness to gather so that they were able to suck in enough power for the kills. No matter what, the group had to get him out of the area. The mission could no longer be continued with him being infected.

"Get a grip, Soul Eater!" Stein was shouting at him while holding out the Demon Hammer in front of him. If the scythe attacked, he needed to bring him down. Marie had the ability to stun the opponent. Time is crucial now.

Pointing a hand towards Stein, the scythe's expression suddenly hardened into a hatred glare.

"If I am not tied by things like missions, then I will be able to reunite with her again! It's everyone's fault that I can't go back to her!" the scythe' burst out, eyes filled with intense hate.

"Her? As in Maka-chan?"

"How smart of you to actually remember that she exist!" he spat, "If killing every single thing in my path will free me, then I won't hesitate to kill."

"Soul, calm down…"

"I HAVE BEEN TOLERATING HER ABSENCE SINCE GOD KNOWS WHEN! CALM DOWN? HOW COULD I? I SWEAR THAT I AM GOING TO DESTROY EVERYTHING, EVERYONE UNTIL I AM ABLE TO REACH HER WITH EASE!"

From the brief conversation, Stein immediately knew what had triggered Soul's defenses causing it to weaken. Marie looked at him sadly through her weapon form, and he looked back, with a hint of understanding in his gaze.

**Soul **

He lost control of his senses, and did not realize that he was actually threatening his own team mates. There was a wonderful feeling growing within him and he yearned to release it. He knew that with that, he could do a lot of things. And the best thing has to be left to the last, which is, to see her in person again and to fulfill his unfinished promise of a lifetime to her. He could hardly wait. Now there is a chance, he is going to grab hold of it and make use of it to the full extent, to tear open the cage and be free once again. There was a weird feeling inside him, and he thought to hear someone calling his name, and the voice seemed to sound very distant yet familiar, but he decided to brush it off. Anything else did not really matter much anymore. Now, to execute the objectives which were snidely planted in his mind by 'her'.

'She' was smiling at him. He smiled back. Bloodstone red pierced into forest emerald with passion. 'She' closed 'her' eyes and gently placed her forehead against his. He closed his eyes as well, holding onto her.

_You did well… Soul… now, we can be together again… _

_Yea… _

_I will be seeing you again… _

_I can hardly wait, Maka…_

His eyes parted slightly and moved down to close in the distance between them. Before he could proceed, a pang hit him hard. He could not understand. 'She' looked up at him with a confused expression, silently asking him what was wrong. He could not describe the pain. He moved away from her and clutched his chest, wheezing uncontrollably. He should not be the one feeling the pain. What could have happened?

**General POV **

Stein and the others braced for an attack, but it never came. The scythe had raised a bladed hand in threat. However, he did not make any move to continue with what he was planning inside his head. Stein took the chance to attempt stunning him. It seemed that some barrier had formed around the scythe and he got thrown back by an unknown force. Recovering to his feet, he was astonished to see the dark aura around the Death Scythe was mingled with an angelic looking yellow aura which appeared from the void. The yellow aura was fighting off the dark aura which was initially erupted from him when Madness took over his senses. It was attempting to cover up the crimson and black aura. The scythe had collapsed to his knees and started screaming in pain while clutching his chest, his breaths were rapid.

Marie was screaming at Stein to do something to stop the entire frenzy. The entire team was too stunned to do anything. The scythe had hunched over and grabbed his head while coughing out scarlet.

**Soul **

_What is with the pain?... _

_Soul, bear with this and eliminate them… _

_But… It felt so, painful… _

Someone was calling out to him from far away. He remembered hearing the same voice when he was on the verge of bringing down the intruders. The voice was smoothing to his ears. In the space of absolute darkness he snapped his head about frantically, trying to locate the source of the voice which was calling out to him. 'She' did not look happy.

_Soul, what are you doing… _

He ignored 'her'. It was then he knew something was very wrong. Maka should be a woman, but it was a girl who appeared in front of him. She would never tempt him to be impulsive, despite being as such herself. He was always the one who managed to calm the flames in her whenever she started to go all disorientated. The signature strawberry caramel scent was absent. 'She' tried to tug his arm but he was busy trying to reach out for the angelic voice calling out to him. From a distance he saw a glow. He seemed to have forgotten about the 'person' who was determinedly trying to drag him into Madness.

The wavelength vibration was getting stronger. He reached out a hand.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Cliffhanger? Hehe~ Anyways, sorry for not updating for so long x.x Was busy with work. Still writing this fic of course, tho I am taking my own sweet time to upload, on the other hand, I am finishing the fic XD

Anyway, I guess its obvious who is calling out to Soul when he is at the point, almost being consumed by Madness. Tho the cause of Madness is Fear, in this case, the cause of Madness in Soul is the longing for his beloved. Desire. Poor couple. Let's hope they will get back together again q.q

Storyline is getting heavier isn't it? Bear with me, I am a sucker for these kind of stories

I promise I will upload the next one soon. To those who remembered this fic and are still waiting for my update, a big thank you to you guys! I won't disappoint you with the ending, I swear ^^

Have a great day :3


	13. Chapter 13 Recover

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes

Chapter Thirteen: Recover

**Soul **

He was staring into nothingness but he knew someone was there. Like star dust concentrating, a glowing figure of a young woman's soul was slowly forming into a human shape in front of his eyes. The vision was so memorable. He could not make out the features because it was too bright. The familiar pale yellow glow stretched out a delicately sculptured hand and reached out to touch his cheek. He grabbed the hand and placed it to his chest. Long hair reaching the waist was flowing out behind her. Holding on to him, the woman looked extremely furious, glaring at the figure which started to emit a mixture of crimson and black aura. A more mature voice echoed in his mind this time.

_Impersonating me? Such a disgusting thing… You are not that weak, aren't you, Soul? _

Soul closed his eyes and held the apparition tightly. He had to smile. It was really her this time, all right. Oh, how he missed that tone of her voice whenever she was really pissed off, angry and worried about his antics. He always found it really cute whenever she started to scold and nag at him, he could easily picture that pout on her face and the menacingly narrowed eyes. Except that the only thing missing is a thick hard covered book. Even if that was just a strong resonation of the soul of his beloved Meister, he swore that he caught a brief whiff of her vanilla scent. Even if that was only her wavelength which was reflecting her traits, her voice and her warmth, it was strong enough to reach him just like the real person herself. It was then he realized that it was because she was desperate to pull him back to his senses. Hence the strong intensity of the Soul Recall.

_I am sorry, Maka … _

_Do you know what have you done? I will blame my blood loss on you. _

_I am really sorry… _

_Holy crap, in what way do I resemble that trashy fake? _

_I am really very sorry… Gad, I really want to see you again you know? _

… _fine, you are forgiven. Idiot_.

Although he could not see her features clearly, he knew that she was smiling despite her being vivid at the same time. The brief moment of connection between them was overwhelming thanks to years of separation from each other. He did not know what to say, or what to do. All that goes through his mind was that he finally could feel her soul connecting with his. Probably it would not happen again, because it was due to a desperate situation that caused the amplification of Soul Recall. He just wanted to spend a little more time in the void with her. But he knew this brief meeting was only for temporary. Communicating with her just felt like the old times when they were still living together back then. They could not speak; he longed to hear the voice coming straight from her mouth. Just by grasping each other's soul wavelength vibration in sync, they could easily read each other's minds. The Soul's Wavelength Communication is acting like an invisible barrier to communicating in the Soul Recall state, but this is the best he could ask for, after the Christmas encounter last year. Probably the next closest encounter, but he could not ask for more. It is good enough. No time to talk about life, they have got business to deal with.

_Hey, let's get rid of this disgusting thing. It is really making me sick. _

_I will lead this time, Maka. _

_Of course, stupid, it is always you leading me. _

**General POV **

The scythe stood up and the black and scarlet aura was expelled from his body as if something within him was heaving it out. The scythe spit out the blood from his mouth and glaring at the huge ball of the manifestation of Madness squirming in front of him, trying to morph into a definite form.

"Looks like you are alright now, Soul Eater."

He smiled at Stein while the other team mates were still dumbfounded with the events that happened a few seconds ago. Stein sensed that there was another wavelength within the Death Scythe. Marie saw it as well. To have that kind of Soul Recalling strength which was able to reach the person that far away was totally remarkable.

"Stein… isn't that…"

"Yes, Marie. It is her."

The scythe did not say anything. His blades were out and with one swift movement, the mass of Madness which tried to mislead him was gone accompanied by a horrific shriek before it could do anything. Now to deal with the creatures which had gathered around them since the point of his brief infection. He glared at them, the main cause of him being chained to this mission and away from her and getting his defense down to the point where he got infected by Madness. It sank into him at the point of time when he saw the real deal herself. He was glad that he woke up on time before he was into a good serious trouble and hurting Stein and his other team mates. She fulfilled her promise to save him once again, and he was glad that she knocked the right sense into him.

Blades formed on the back of his hands melted away and a solid scythe started to form in his hands with a sharp flash of blue, the weapon resembling himself in his Death Scythe form. Thanks to her diligent experimenting with scythe transformation, he managed master expelling, or rather, summoning his scythe form from his own body with her help. It was done by dividing the power of his soul. He could feel his body glowing along with her aura while half of his was in the scythe, leaving the other half in his own body to control that half.

"Stein sensei, Marie sensei, and guys, sorry for making you all worry, I am totally fine now."

Stein twisted the screw in his head a few times to register his words and condition before smiling.

"Damn brat. I will take your word for that." He snorted before smiling.

Wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth, eyes glowing with the anticipation to kill, he returned Stein's statement with a smirk.

"We need to finish dealing with this horde first before anything else."

The group successfully eliminated the pre-Kishins which gathered around them. They managed to proceed further into the dungeons. The numbers accumulated and were waiting for their arrival deeper in the dungeons. Madness was getting concentrated and unbearable. The suffocating feeling within that the group experiences were rather overwhelming, making it difficult to proceed. However the destination, what they needed to find out, kept them pushing themselves to proceed further on. She was with him during the period of exploration and thanks to her brief appearance, he managed to use Soul Perception as efficiently as Stein. They got past the hordes of pre-Kishins although with great difficulty, but they managed to overcome, barely standing straight and finally found themselves outside the towering doors of a huge hallway. The exhaustion was starting to overcome the group. Dripping with blood and perspirations, they sneaked past the door and sited themselves behind a huge pillar to observe the surroundings.

The entire hall was draped with menacing decorations, white tiled and bricks, the cloths draping off the parapets were of dark crimson like the coatings of the pillars. Torches on the walls with sinister green flames burning and crackling with delight. A tall platform was silhouetted a distance from the doorway, stairs in the middle and a long black carpet lying in the middle, stretched from the doorway to the top of the platform. However, all of them could feel the intensity of Madness was far different from what they experienced out there. The air was extremely heavy, making it very difficult to breathe normally. The Madness intensity was not just strong, the wavelength of the Madness emitting from the platform was way too calm. It felt like a time bomb, if exploded, the consequences would be heavy. It felt as if, one could got lost while following that wavelength and not knowing that he or she was walking straight into danger.

Footsteps started to echo and the group took in a sharp inhalation to silence their inner surprise.

A lady was stalking over to the platform from a side door, wearing white from head to toe, her mantle rippling behind her.

"A Witch!" Stein cursed under his breath.

"What?"

The woman had jet black hair, high forehead covered neatly with bangs and a pair of glittering teal colored eyes. Her sharp features were framed with a snide haughty look. The clicking of her boots stopped and she stood in front of something that looked like a coffin with her arms crossed. Pulling her arms apart, giving a casual flick with her left, the cover flipped open and a sinister hiss could he heard. She tipped a huge vial of black substance into the coffin.

"There, food."

Snarls and growls could be heard echoing from the depths of what was inside the coffin-like thing on the platform. An eerie crackling resounded from what was lying within.

"Eat. Eat and mature. You should be able to evolve soon. You will be free the next full moon is up."

The witch sealed the coffin lid shut and stalked off, not at all noticing the group of Meisters and Death Weapons couching fugitive behind one of the pillars.

"So this is it. Let's go back for now."

The dungeons were such a labyrinth. Probably if one were to go in alone, he or she would not be able to survive long or get out easily. The twisting and turnings were getting irritating. Soul felt someone tugging at him in the midst of his inner world, dark waters he was treading on and gloomy dark surroundings. He snapped towards that reverie-like sensation and found himself right there with her gripping onto his wrist.

_Can't hold on… thank goodness you guys are done… _

_Maka… _

_I… I am about to collapse… _

_WHAT? _

_In the real world… I am getting weak, idiot… _

_Release this connection! I cannot let you risk getting internal injuries or something! _

_Let me get you out first... _

_Don't bother, release the Soul Recall now, quick! _

Even if everything was pretty dark, he could hear something dripping into the calm waters both of them were standing on. Despite her features being extremely blurred due to the light, the trail of crimson flowing down to her chin was way obvious a contrast and unmistakable what he knew it was. He tried to shake off her hands and pull back, heart wrenching because he knew everything that happened between him and her was because of his temporary sway in his emotions. He caused her unnecessary injuries right on the very first time they managed to come into contact, even it was just a strong soul connection, after all those years of separation.

_Please, Soul, I just want you out safe… _

…

_SOUL! _

_Fine, but don't push yourself, if you can't, let go, you are hurt already, sorry… it's all my fault… _

_I don't blame you, idiot…_

It was a pain getting out. With her Soul Perception, they managed to see through that mass to locate the souls of the backup team which was waiting outside for the group. Running into the direction with the pre-Kishins hounding after them, the group was almost out of stamina when a familiar gate appeared in front of them. They stumbled into daylight and collapsed in a heap, while the backup team was running towards them and dragging everyone to safety from the boundaries. It was then, without a farewell or a warning, the Soul Recalling snapped to a halt and the aura around Soul disappeared. Stein went over to examine him, who was lying on the ground wheezing for air while coughing dryly.

"You alright, brat?"

"Professor Stein… Maka… she… please… help me check on her…"

Of course, over usage of Soul Recall has another side effect. When two souls are vibrating at the same beat when joined together via strong echoing intensity, they will experience what the other experience, including injuries. The effects of Madness which affected him must have affected her on the other side as well. The coughing of blood, when the Soul Recalling was interrupted by Madness.

Stein supported his weight and helped him up to his feet.

"I will send Death City a message to check on her right away when we got back to the quarters, alright?"

**Maka **

Someone was gripping her shoulders, attempting to rouse her to her consciousness.

"Thanks goodness you are still alive!" "Are you okay? Come on, open your eyes!"

Liz. Patty.

She was still in her bathroom and did not remember when she fell unconscious. The brief meeting with him still played across her mind. It felt so good, despite the ache emitting from her lungs and the pain from over coughing with the dizziness from blood loss. She looked down at the towel she was holding onto, it was soaked partially with crimson. Everything after that happened so fast. She was lingering in the state of sub-consciousness. The next thing was finding herself in the Dispensary of Shibusen, laying on the deathly white bed, having Kim feeding her with medication and the twin Demon Guns sitting beside her, all three with worried expression plastered on their faces. According to them, the travel date to Ivanov was postponed again to five days later, roughly the period of time she needed to recover from the side effects of over usage of Soul Recalling.

"Is the Shinigami angry with me or something?"

"He wasn't angry, he was totally worried."

"How did you guys…"

"Shinigami-sama was being informed by Stein who is currently at Heilnite. Apparently, it was Soul who requested to check on you. Heard that he was puking blood over there as well. Having the exact same symptoms as you. Which leaves me thinking, what exactly happened."

Looking at her pale faced self from the mirror hanging on the wall in front of her, she closed her eyes and recalled bits and pieces of that fast paced event which happened a good few hours ago. So, that meeting of their soul vibrations wasn't just a dream, or just an imagination after all.


	14. Chapter 14 Medusa's Flipside

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

* * *

Resonation Echoes

Chapter Fourteen: Medusa's Flipside

**Maka **

She was finally up and about on the third day of her recuperation in the Dispensary. The sharp ultra violet arrows were piercing through the curtains, blinding her eyes. Groaning with irritation, she pulled up the covers to her head and flipped to the opposite direction of the rays. Despite being a day person, she started to hate the cheerful weather since his departure. And even more right after the incident that caused her to be lying in the Dispensary. The smell of medicines and antiseptics in that white cell was killing her sense of smell. She was lying on the very same bed where he laid after the operation on the fateful day when he suffered a huge blow from Crona during the unexpected confrontation after their mission. She closed her eyes and tried to remember his scent as she buried her face into the pillow.

She thought about the event that happened the day she was sent to the Dispensary of the school. Why was she able to reach him in her soul-form? She could not remember what happened in the reality while she was connecting her soul vibration to his. How did she collapse? All she remembered was that, during the Soul Resonation within their Soul Recalling, she remembered what happened to him and how they dealt with his mission during the period of time. They talked for a while within the void space and she remembered the details. It seems that she is in a sub-conscious state, her body stuck in the bathroom while her soul was propelled towards him. Such a scary distance. She could not believe that both of them were able to create such an intensity of Soul Recall and maintain it for hours. Soul Recall is a pretty energy draining technique. She was still surprised that both of them managed to pull everything off. Great. Now she started to wonder if he is still alive or not, considering herself being half dead in the Dispensary.

His voice becomes one of the aspects of him she misses after that encounter. Although they did not really talk, but rather, reading of each other's minds through the wavelength connection.

How she yearned to hear his voice again.

She walked along the corridors while her mind was full of worry about that stupid scythe of hers when a ping hit her Soul Perception caught her attention. Skillfully leaping onto the highest platform of the area she was at, she peered at the cloaked figure who was making way to the school gates, accompanied with Justin Law and another newly appointed Death Scythe from the East Asia region by the name of Xu Faei. Using her Soul Perception, she peered into their souls. She let out a gasp when she was the familiar glow of the soul of the cloaked figure. Immediately, she leapt down from the platform to welcome the familiar 'intruder' when Nygus caught her sneaking out and immediately plopped her back onto the deathly white bed. She groaned in annoyance but decided to keep quiet when Nygus shot her a death glare which will never fail to put anyone who is defiant in her care into silence, adults or not. A few times she tried to sneak out again but was caught by Nygus over and over again. She decided to give up escaping when Nygus threatened to lock her up in the medicine storeroom. Nygus had become much scarier when she became a Death Weapon, she had to admit.

When she was about to doze off in boredom after her lunch when her subconscious Soul Perception detected the soul she saw in the morning making way towards the Dispensary, immediately she sat up with anticipation. She had not seen this person since she went into the same class as Kim and Jacqueline during the University period. She wondered why that person was here when she should be away in Russia on a grave mission. The door swung open and the figure stepped in with a smile.

"Hello, Maka. It has been quite a few years, isn't it?"

The tone of the voice caused her to flinch slightly, it reminded her of a specific witch who was defeated under the hands of her own child. And that particular child was standing right in front of her.

"Hey Crona. Great to see you again. Whoa, you…" Maka eyed her friend's chest area and her clothes.

"Having a gender is so troublesome. At first I did not even bother to find out." She said, waving a lazy hand in the air, seeing her friend's expression. "I don't even know what am I. The fool of a mother only cares about her troublesome research rather than to teach her daughter about knowing herself. Let alone having a life." She chuckled quietly.

Crona changed tremendously over the years, including her personality and attitude. The introvert side of her seems to be completely gone. She is slightly taller than Maka herself and her hair has grown much longer. Crona's features reflected the deceased witch's proud demeanor. Hair layered and fanned out like that of Medusa's, but with huge plaits tied softly and hung carelessly behind her back. She wore a black hooded shoulder cape and white combat dress suit underneath accompanied with steel boots and black stockings. Maka was prepared for the sudden outburst of a particular black little demon with an annoying voice but it never came.

"What is that fella? It is not like him not to burst out from your back and sprouting nonsense."

"Oh, Ragnarok eih? He is sleeping in my blood, unless if I needed to fight. I got the black blood under my control. Although I kind of, missed his nonsense, I will take the peace." she said, with a look of pure satisfaction. Maka was purely surprised at Crona's major changes, she was trying to register the changes when the young woman decided to update her personally. Even the way she talks changed a great deal. Crona is totally a different person now.

"Anyway, I have missed you lot. A lot of things happened."

"Hmmm, care to share the details?"

Crona pulled up a chair to sit beside the bed.

"After we split class, guess what kind of lessons Kim and I are taking."

"Eh… something that has got to do with sorcery?"

"Exactly. After all, I still have that damned witch blood in me isn't it? They took a sample of my blood to compare with that of Medusa's and found that I actually inherited her abilities. So, you can say that, other than being a Sword Technician, I am also half a witch. Remember that witch, Helika, who came to our school that time, where we all almost attacked her? She is our personal instructor. Pretty skillful with her craftsmanship. I managed to control both the blood and magic thanks to her. Got to thank Shinigami-sama for letting me stay here. All I can do to repay the debt is to help him out as much as possible. Right after I graduated, Kim stayed on to help out as a Healer while I went overseas to aid the headquarters."

"Mhmm, so why are you back here? I thought you are supposed to be in Russia?"

"Oh, came back here to give a detailed report, since travelling is a piece of cake to me. Second reason is to gather more resources. Thirdly is to visit you." The Blade Technician smiled at her friend who was looking back at her with an awed look on her face, "What is it, Maka?"

"You are actually, talking."

"Ahahahahahahaa… you can't be thinking about that Crona of the past isn't it, my dear? People do change."

"Damn, I can't get used to yours."

"So, let's drop about my personal matters, since I will be filling you with with details during the journey to Russia. I want to ask about you."

"Heh, nothing much. What is there to ask anyway."

"I heard about your condition. Soul Recall huh? Looks like you overused it."

The young woman looked down at her pale hands before turning to the half witch, "Well, yea, I guess."

"That isn't funny, Maka, you may die in the process you know. But…" Crona smiled serenely, "I guess it can't be helped, isn't it?"

"Ummm… what can't be helped?"

"Don't act. I can see there is something going on between you and Soul."

"Oh come on…" but the half witch cut across her.

"Don't start." Crona put up a hand to dismiss her, "It is pretty obvious, it isn't just me who noticed it."

The young woman sitting on the bed flushed a deep scarlet. Trying hard to remain her composure, she replied, "What nonsense."

The half witch shook her head, sighing. Right from the start when the very first time she met the duo, she already know that there is a deep bond between the two. Her mother made use of that aspect to carry out the Black Blood Experiment on Soul while hoping that Maka will get infected in the Soul Resonation process. Deep inside, she knew that she will never be able to repay her debt to the Scythe Technician, for it is her who set her free from her mother's shadow and found a place where she can belong to without any worries of pressure. Being engaged herself, she felt sad for her friend who still did not admit to her own feelings due to her personal insecurities. She is determined help this silly Meister for all the effort she could give. Kid had told her about the Christmas incident that happened that time when he visited Ivanov. Since almost everyone in the clique are already attached, it is way past the time those two are to recognize their own feelings towards each other.

"For your information, Maka, I am engaged already."

"… what?! ENGAGED?!"

"Well, yeah."

"With who?!"

"Sion. You should know that man."

"Sion Claymore?! No way. Since when?" Maka looked impressed. Apparently, Sion turned out to be one of the best double handed Death Blade DWMA has. As his family name said it, he is a double handed claymore. He is being paired with Crona to their mission in Ivanov right after she was sent to Russia for her long term mission. A lot of girls swoon over that guy as much as they swoon over Soul. Crona has got a pretty good catch. According to the gossips out there, Sion is nuts about Crona. Looks like that rumor is true all along. The Meister shook her head slowly in disbelief.

"Two years ago. We are getting married right after we dealt with the mission. Which will be soon, I hope."

"Gee… can't imagine that you got hitched before Black*Star. He is going to be so mad."

"Heh. Worry about yourself."

"What's there to worry about?"

"Soul. And. You." Crona said simply, putting great emphasis on each word. "In love."

"Love? What the hell, we are just partners, and best friends."

"According to you, touchy towards each other not? Maka? Dancing together with the balcony's door locked shut? Being each other's dates for every prom? Hugging you to sleep when you are sick? Staying by your side 24/7 when you were bedridden with injuries from your solo mission at that time and crying in the dark silently? Beating up some douche in the school for flirting with you? Him throwing away all the love letters written to you by your admirers? Need me to list out more? Don't tell me that after all those little actions from him, your heart isn't moved by any bit at all?"

"…"

"And why are you wearing his clothes and walking around adopting his attitude and his way of speech after he left Death City? Or the way you hugged him when sending him off on that day? And those tears and dieting fits after he left? Explain."

"…"

"Are you sure that, best FRIENDS will behave that way towards each other?"

The silence which fell upon both women was impactful. Maka had a blank look on her face and staring at her bed sheets as if petrified. Crona was looking at her with a bored expression on her face. After a few minutes of silence, Maka finally showed some reaction. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes with great difficulty, letting Crona's word sink into her head. There is a mournful look on her face as her opened her eyes again and looked out of the window.

"… I don't deny."

"You are a silly woman, Maka."

The days passed with haste and Maka was back in the apartment, preparing for her departure. Now, they will be even further from each other, she and Soul, that is. She felt a nagging tug at her heart strings as she sat on the couch, looking around the apartment. Somehow, she did not want to leave the apartment. She stood up abruptly and stalked towards the Steinway grand piano she owned and started to play tons of depressing classical pieces to drown herself in. Just when she finished the last movement of the piece, her mobile rang. Shutting the piano covers, she picked the call. It was Liz.

"Maka? It is time. Let's go over and meet up with Crona and gang."

"Alright, in a while. See you."

"You okay?"

"Kinda. Yea. See you then."

She pulled on her ankle boots and took a last glance at the apartment. Dragging her luggage cases out of the main door, she delicately adjusted Soul's old jacket she was wearing before locking the door. Without a backward glance, she set off. Crona was waiting downstairs for her. Seeing the Scythe Technician's face twisted with mixed feelings but more of being crestfallen, she delicately pulled her into a comforting embrace.

It is going to be a long absence from home.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Hello all, happy late 2013. It has been quite some time, isn't it? If you haven't checked my revamped profile page, do drop by and read up if you have time to :)

Sorry for the late update, I am currently doing my degree course in the university. Got hounded by tons of tests every single week and tons of lab sessions. but this update is also to tell you guys that, despite the slow update, I will still update XD

Thanks for reading this update and do have faith in me when it comes to updates =P Have a nice day!


	15. Chapter 15 Steadfast

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes

Chapter Fifteen: Steadfast

**Soul**

He recovered from the previous encounter and was up and about within 2 days. However, he was restless. Ness refused to let him out of the Dispensary as she was worried that there might be more complications. Telling a frustrated Soul that he was not to go out before the observation period is over. Ness was expecting the Death Scythe to yell back at her and followed on with more negotiations. However, he looked defeated and a worried expression formed on his face. Angrily stomping over to his bed and slid down against the bed post and ran both hands in his hair, messing it up vigorously and proceeded to punch a fist into the ground.

"It is for your own good, Soul." Ness told him quietly after he calmed down.

"I don't mind staying in here as long as I got the news of her safety." he said, biting his bottom lip, brows still locked, rocking fore and backwards on spot, with his head now resting on his kneecaps.

"Maka is alright, alive and heading towards Ivanov to intercept Crona's mission for your information."

That got him interested and his head snapped upwards towards the source which provided him with the information. Stein walked in with another girl whom he did not recognize. Seeing Soul all flustered up, Stein gave a grin.

"So, she is really fine?"

"Indeed. Got the word from Sid."

The Death Scythe stood up and plopped himself back onto the bed and raised a hand to cover over his forehead, signing in relief. He reached over to the small table and picked up a framed photograph which he always brought along with him even during missions.

"I am so glad." He said smiling at the picture, forgetting that there were three other people in the room with him. He did not notice that the girl who was with Stein was looking murderous at the picture he was holding onto either.

"Soul, you know you should just tell her about your feelings before you leave Death City you know? It is no good to keep a girl suspended like that." Ness said shaking her head.

"It is kind of, late to tell me this, isn't it, Ness?" the scythe chuckled quietly.

"Anyway, back to the general topic. Soul. Let me introduce another new member to this mission." Stein gestured his hand towards the stranger beside him. Soul lazily raised his head and gave the new comer an uninterested look. The young lady smiled at him sweetly, which made him rolled his eyes.

"Hi, Soul sempai. My name is Lisett Valenti. Please to meet you. I always heard about you when I am a junior back in DWMA, I can't believe I can work with you in this mission, I am so happy…"

Soul halted her by raising a hand and snapped, "Alright, stop, your name will be enough." He plopped back onto the bed and turned his head towards Stein, "So what about her?"

"She is a weapon and still schooling. She was chosen to come here because she excel in solo combat. Anyway, I will be leaving her under your care and teach her what you know. She will be coming with us for the coming missions."

"Damn. Why can't you guys get Maka here instead? You know I hated taking care of kiddies." An impatient look stretched across his face. Stein sighed.

"Soul. I assure you that you and your Maka will get united again when we complete this mission as soon as possible. Human resources we have here is limited. One more helper will help a lot. Now, hope you two will get along. I need to get Marie to get her a room."

"Can I stay with sempai instead?" the new comer pouted. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"No!" he snapped.

"Soul, I tell you what, she will stay with you until Marie managed to find an apartment for her. Alright, no more negotiations. Hopefully this will get you to accept working along with different people, knowing that you are a very stubborn one who only stick to the regulars who always worked together with you."

"WHAT?! Wait! I m not letting her sleep in MY room!" the impatient look immediately changed into angst swiftly. He almost jumped out of the bed upon hearing what Stein just told him.

"Why can't you just either get her here or let me go over to her station?! I can't stand my privacy being invaded like this!"

"Then you and Lisett need to work it out about that."

"For goodness sake, Stein!"

Stein stalked out of the Dispensary before Soul could say more. He slammed his head back onto the pillow, ignoring Lisett who was still standing here, took up the photo frame again. Lisett walked over to the bed and sat down on a chair beside it.

"Sempai, can I know more about you?"

"Not interested."

"Well, for work, that is…" she said meekly.

"I kill every single thing I see in my path that pisses me off, that is it."

Then, followed by an awkward silence.

"Ummm, sempai, what about my stay?"

Soul grunted and shot the intruder with a nasty look that made her recoil slightly.

"We will see about that, let me rest for now, please."

Ignoring the look on Lisett's face, he turned over to face the window and pulled the sheets over his head. The young lady looked at him intensely. What exactly is so attractive about Maka Albarn? No sex appeal, a typical nerd, uncute. She could see that Soul was totally smitten and in love with her. The way he looked at the picture which was framed nicely in the photo frame, the way he said her name in such an affectionate tone, how he was worried about her wellbeing, all were making her blood boil. Of all those girls out there, why Maka? Lisett could not comprehend. And she hated that. According to what she remembered, that girl, other than studying, she knows nothing else.

Underneath the sheets, Soul could feel the intensity of the hatred the girl was giving off, but it did not affect him much. All that mattered was staying alive and going back to Death to re unite with Maka again.

Soul woke up two hours later, Lisett was still beside him, but asleep. He frowned. Why is she so bent of sticking to him that much? He felt extremely irritated. Damn Stein. The last thing he wanted is to have another girl other than Maka hanging around him. He tried getting off the bed but she was sprawling on the edge of the bed, arms pressing on a part of the bed sheet. Rolling his eyes, he gave her a rough prod on her shoulders, waking her up abruptly.

"Sempai? How are you feeling?"

He ignored her and went to look for Ness. Lisett followed.

"Sempai, just tell me if you needed help or something. I can help you."

"You are annoying. Just leave me alone." He threw his reply at her without looking back.

"But I have no where else to go."

He snorted. This is one sticky girl. Sadly she isn't one of the kishin creatures, if not, he would have gladly sliced her apart at the instant.

"You can just walk around the place you know?"

"I am scared I will get lost, can sempai show me around? Please?"

What else can he do to shake her off? Sighing at the inevitable, he grunted, "Fine."

The day passed with ease for Lisett but to Soul, it was horribly painful. It is just like having a plague sticking around the globe tormenting people with viruses invasion and making them horribly sick, the exact feeling. Unwillingly, he showed her to the apartment he was currently staying, not noticing Lisett's delightful look spreading across her face. He slammed open the door and walked in without a word, with Lisett following in with a sense of anticipation showing clearly on her face. Soul waved a hand lazily.

"This is where I live. Don't touch anything here unless I give you my permission."

He gestured his hand towards the photo frames which were sitting on the coffee table and the mantelpiece.

"Especially the photographs. Do not touch them. If you see any female clothing or whatever lying around, don't touch them either. And don't even think of wearing them."

"Female clothing? Why do you have…"

Before Lisett finished her sentence, he snapped impatiently, "Everyone god damn knows that I am crazy over my Meister. And we are together. Is the summary clear enough? Now stop asking the obvious."

He made a mental note in his mind to suck up his guts and say it to Maka right into her face the next time if they managed to see each other again. That they are together. He just couldn't afford to wait or let her wait anymore. As for Lisett, right after hearing what Soul had just said, she tried to hide her emotions. No matter what, she was very determined to make him hers. The distance between her and Soul is just too close. Well, just that distance.

Soul unlocked the spare room in his apartment and gestured Lisett in, telling her to sleep in there until the headquarters managed to find another room for her. The frustration on his face was still there since Lisett was brought in. Now he lost his privacy thanks to this foreign 'object'. He did conveniently ignored all those expressions that radiated across Lisett's face as he coldly turned his back towards her and walked out of the room to leave her to unpack by herself. He grabbed all Maka's belongings and placed them all in his room, not forgetting to lock the room door before going back to the dispensary to check out. Happy or not, this is his space and his property. If she doesn't like it, she can just request to stay with another staff. His angel has long ago fully occupied his thoughts and there is hardly space for another one. Neither is he interested. Somehow, her innocent and naïve personality attracted him a great deal and it makes all other women who tried to seduce him or flirt with him, seemed loose.

Lisett was determined to get into Soul's room to see what was in there. She was very sure that Soul kept a lot of that person-in-question's old belongings in his room. She wanted to throw everything out and burn them into crisp. What exactly is so good about that weak, puny, soft hearted girl that has totally no assets, sex appeal, not cute either and boring in many ways that made Soul fell head over heels with her? But come to think of it, she had not seen that boring girl for years. Well, probably no much of a change and as boring as usual. She can never understand Soul's personal interests in any way. Books can never help in every way.

She looked around the apartment and saw things that surprised her. She walked towards the book shelf and stared at the huge collection of books residing neatly in it. There were a few extremely thick ones sitting on the couch and on the coffee table. Fantasy, science fiction, mystery, crimes and suspense… Since when did Soul started reading as his hobby? As far as she remembered, back during those school days, as a junior, she often seem him with BlackStar and Kid, playing around at the basketball court. To her, Soul is like one of those sporty junkie, funky, cool, active and all. Putting that person-in-question beside him totally ruined the entire picture.

But what did she know? Soul is not what she thinks he is. Hidden beneath that exterior is the hidden sophistication that he only shows to his lady alone.

Despite Lisett being a guest, Soul behaved indifferently towards her. He only cooked his own breakfast, handled with his own laundry and all, and reminded Lisett to take care of herself as he wasn't any butler, servant or hotel cleaner. The sour feeling within Lisett intensified when Soul never failed to showed her his cold exterior even though she was trying to be warm toward him, and even tried to get close to him. All these merely made Soul felt revolted and her desperation.

"Just why won't you love me?!"

Lisett could not hold in her desired any longer as days passed. She spat that at Soul, who rubbed his temples slowly.

"I told you I am already attached. And I am not interested in any other women out there."

"What is so good about her?! Look at me! I am damn pretty, I have a nice body, I am not that stupid either, I am a talented Meister who knows how to handle all kinds of Weapons, I even got to join in this important assignment with all the elites! I just don't understand!"

"There are a lot of things that you don't know about her. Trust me, judging one superficially, on the outside, is not enough."

The atmosphere was intense and still. Soul decided that he should continue to deny her no matter what. If he gave in, then he would be some uncool jackass out there, unworthy of his charming angel who was waiting for him back in Death City.

Her days of stay were a total torture. Randomly, she would pounce onto him and hugged him from behind when he wasn't aware. It took him ages to throw her off from his back. She would start to throw kiddy tantrums to get his attention, which he ceased to do so when he realized her intentions of doing such just to get his attention. She made rice boxes for him which he refused to touch because due to Lisett having a strong personality, he was afraid that she might add some other weird stuff into it. Call him paranoid but he don't care a bit. She also tried to lie her way just to spend some time in his room by saying things like she having a nightmare earlier and such, that she needed company. She tried to wash his clothes but the scythe snatched them away before she could touch them. Somehow, her usual advance which worked on other guys she met out there failed miserably when it comes to him. Every time when she heard him calling out that Meister's name continuously when sleeping, pained her.

Once day while Soul was away on a mission, Lisett was prowling around his apartment as usual when she realized that the door was unlocked. He must have forgotten to lock it when hastily preparing to go out this morning. Great chance, as he would not be back that early anytime. Eagerly, she pushed open the door to direct access to all his secrets.

The room was brightly lit, and sunlight shone upon the walls which was painted in pearl shade and orange cornice. Cotton and nylon brown curtains draped at the sides of the large window, framing it nicely. There was a small bathroom, a poster bed, a wardrobe, a bookshelf and cabinet beside the bed and a dressing mirror. Coats were hanged neatly on the clothes rack standing beside the mirror. Other than the furniture, what caught her attention was the small pile of belongings folded and packed neatly beside the pillow. She picked up one of the clothes from the pile. A piece of female wear; a white chiffon shirt. She glanced at the items in the pile. Female clothes, a large thick scarf, a key chain with a metal tag and many other little things. Lisett felt a surge of jealously and anger rushing through her pulse but managed to stop herself from throwing stuff around. She looked around the room. Almost everything reminded her of that Meister. The color tone of the room, the way the room was set, everything. At a corner was a pile of beautifully wrapped gifts. One look and anyone will understand that the scythe was, all along, buying things that are meant for her but lacking of chances to give them to her. Who can resist such a devoted man? Lisett sat on his bed thinking hard.

With such a long absence from each other, he must have been lonely and pinning for her. The main thing here would be his loneliness. She will fill that gap. Regardless if he would be angry if she touched _her_ things, she decided to proceed with whatever plans that came into her mind. Sooner or later, he will not need _her_ things anymore. Hastily, she slipped out of her clothes.

He came back into the house, expecting a madman of a roommate flying towards him but no. He felt surprised. Upon stepping in, he smelled food. Apparently, she seemed to have prepared his dinner for him. He frowned. What is she up to now? She better not up to anything that will cause him more trouble. Before he could continue to find out what happened, she stepped out of HIS room. Speaking of the devil. It took him a few seconds to realize what just happened before the reality slapped him.

"HOLY… WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM, HOW DID YOU GET IN?!" he bellowed, veins popping.

Lisett looked at him with a somber expression. It was then he realized that she was wearing _HER_ clothes. His level of fury increased several folds at once upon the sight. Before he could react, she ran towards him and hugged him tightly. He simply could not have any reaction time, nor could he think of what to do next. It was all silent before she started to speak.

"You did not lock your door, so I went in. I am sorry."

Controlling his emotions towards all the impact that overwhelmed him within minutes is not easy, but he managed. Although his voice, quivering with angry and annoyance, he managed to get his reply out.

"Do you know what kind of shit have you just done?"

Silence.

"Why, for fuck sake, why?"

Lisett raised her head and looked at him, gaze unwavering, "You are in pain, let me heal you. Let me be there for you."

"You are getting it all wrong…"

"Please, let me be with you! Pretend that I am her! I don't want to see you suffering!"

He sighed heavily. This is one naïve girl who looks at things her own point of view. He slowly pried her arms off from his waist and gripped her shoulders. He bored his gaze into her, with a firm resolved look on his face. Lisett, for a moment, thought that he was moved by her sincerity, but the Death Scythe gently pushed her backwards and pressed her down to make her sit on the couch.

"Look. I do not deny that I am in pain. Because I missed her. But we promised each other to be strong, so I will be fine. I don't need another substitute because everyone is different. No one can replace anyone. I am not that weak."

"Why won't you give me any chances?"She finally broke down.

"I won't do such a thing. It will hurt everyone. And it will be all pretend, all fake. I will hurt her because I will be a liar and an unfaithful man if I accepted your advances. Then, you will be hurt because I don't love you. And I will be hurt even more if she leaves me for good."

More sobbing.

"I appreciate your feelings but I cannot accept them. Do you wish for your partner to be unfaithful towards you?"

Lisett shook her head.

"That is it. She and I may not be officially together, but, I am waiting for her. And this is how much I love her. No matter how many times you asked, my answer will always be a no. Before you get yourself hurt even further, please, move on."

"It hurts to be rejected by the one you love…"

"That is why you have to move on. Then again, thank you, Lisett. Thank you for loving me."

He finally spoke her name. So warm, so gentle. She cried her heart out for the entire night.

The painful days of being roommates was finally over when the next day Stein merrily knocked on his door, asking for Lisett. It appears that a room was prepared for her and is ready to stay in. He did not help her to pack. The absence of communication will be better for the both of them. It will not be so awkward. She carried her things to the door where Stein was waiting. Not being able to control herself, she turned to look at him again. The scythe was sitting on the couch, reading a book with great concentration. She hardened her feelings and stepped out of the door without another backward glance.

As the door closed with a click, the scythe stuffed a bookmark at the page he stopped at and gently placed the book down. He reached out for the photo frame with the picture of his partner framed in it. He closed his eyes and lovingly held it against his chest, where the heart was beating underneath.

"I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes."

* * *

Somewhere on the other part of the globe, the female Meister was deep in thought. Somehow, something made her looked out of the window and at the sky and said a single sentence in a whisper.

"I will wait for you, regardless how long it takes."

Crona glanced at her. "Did you say something?"

"Nah, nothing."

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**Author's Notes: **

I think I gave several of my readers a big scare when I uploaded the so-called new chapter. As it is my own blunder, I apologize. My fault for not double checking. This is officially the first time I am typing the Author's Notes on the spot before the publishing, hehe. My stories are all pre-written and edited ages ago before upload, reason for slow upload is due to my school stuff. My bad habit goes like this: I will simply publish the entire chapter, then, edit afterwards. Silly me, that's not gonna happen again.

So, what you guys just done reading is my original for this chapter. The entire story behind that defected chapter is like this. Another writer, who happened to be one of my friends, is attempting to write mature stuff. Thought I would let her improvise on this one because some of my friends thought this one will stir up ideas for her. In the end, after many trials and errors, that came out of everything and both me and her decided that it is a major fail. Story doesn't flow well and it is overly staged. The 'rape scene' is just too much for me ._. She did her best though, despite all of that, kudos to her perseverance.

By now, I think you guys know how I like to write my stuff. I love to attempt to pull at people heart-strings, having some psychological elements and yup, I can be a sadist and you will be reading some gore in the next chapter. Despite all that I have written till now, I still have alot to learn. I am not one of the best writers out there but many sincere thanks for giving my stories and my writing a chance by reading it. Would appreciate if you guys will read the other two I have written and give me some constructive reviews. I am looking forward to bringing all my readers more joy in reading what I composed.

Till then, *bows*, I'll see you in the next chapter, have an awesome day (:


	16. Chapter 16 Forward

Disclaimer: I do not own SE. This fic is created purely for casual entertainment. Strictly not for sale. XP

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Resonation Echoes (by DATsubasa)

Chapter Sixteen: Forward

**Maka**

She heaved the abomination across the platform, and it descended in a perfect parabolic arc which ended with a deafening crack before dissolving into dust-like particles. Without another look behind, she went over to join Crona, who finished off the other side about the same time as her. Her hand-to-hand combat had improved over the years and was able to handle things without any weapon. This is often aided with her flexibility and reflexes that are born along with her. Even BlackStar acknowledged that she had become more and more formidable. Despite that, she always thought that her hand to hand combat skills are just secondary, it will be needed if he isn't around. And how many years has she been using her fist masteries against enemies? It seemed so long that she has lost the count of it. Her fingers are for playing the piano and writing, not punching. Oh, the newly developed sophistication over the years. Regardless, the feeling of a cool metal pole with a long onyx and scarlet blade at the end is never foreign. Her arms and hands constantly flexed automatically into a holding gesture from time to time during combat, held up as if she was holding him in her hands, but when reality hit her a few seconds later, she shifted back to the usual stance.

"You deal with her. I will survey the area. Think there are more out there that escaped."

Which the emerald eyed Meister nodded briefly at.

She proceeded to step over the pile of dead carcasses of what was left of the accumulation of Madness, kicking aside those that blocked her way. A trail of Black Blood shadowed the path she walked, dripping from her hands.

Not any drop belonged to her.

The combat gloves were soaked in extremely dark maroon that seemed to look like black from a distance away. The scent of the battle before still lingered and it sank in together with the sweat, sweet stench of blood and the killing intent that was left behind from the battle. But her job was not done. There was a single one, just one, still very much alive but weak, left on the battle field. The soul was quivering with hate and fear. The interesting part was about to begin. The female Meister stalked casually towards the prisoner, who knew that her life would be expiring very soon. As much as she tried to kill herself, the other Meister managed to keep her alive. Now this one, who was walking towards her, was one that all has to fear. The Meister stopped in front of the wretched witch who was bounded with Crona's magic. She slowly surveyed the witch with her emerald eyes which showed no slightest hint of any emotion. She flicked her hands a few times to shake off the remains of the Black Blood that clung onto her combat gloves, no caring if they splattered across that witch's face or anywhere other than that. Slowly, the Meister folded her arms and bent down slightly. The witch snarled at her.

"So, who is your boss?"

Such a simple question, yet, is a big challenge to obtain the answer.

"Just kill me, you disgusting imbecile Shibusen's dog!" and with that, the witch spat at her.

The Meister closed her eyes briefly at the impact, and then opened her eyes again while slowly wiping her face with a gloved knuckle. Within a split second, the witch was pulled up onto her feet and the tip of a combat boot was rammed into her abdomen with such a force that one would black out immediately. Splatters of scarlet decorated the gloomy earth. The prisoner collapsed onto the ground, withering and shaking pitifully while coughing scarlet. The Meister cupped her head up with a hand and rewarded the witch another back-handed slap where the impact snapped her head to the other side at a good angle.

"Who has been giving you those orders?" came the haunting question calmly.

The witch struggled to sit up, and was clearly exhausted.

"Over my dead body will I tell you, you mongrel."

The Meister arched her eyebrows, and then stood up slowly.

"Yes, just kill me." Taunted the witch with a crooning voice.

But the Meister was not ready for her to be dead, yet. It would be a slow tormenting one.

She dragged the witch by the collar and flung her against a tree. That resulted in a deafening "Thump!" of the torso being slammed, a crack and a sharp cry of pain. Leaves falling off along with the same rhythm of the blood dripping. As the witch was immobilized, she could not move on her own free will. Before she could recover, a fist rammed into the abdomen and the impact caused the witch to cough out more blood. The ground was tainted with more scarlet. The emerald eyed Meister coldly glared at the witch and cupping her jaw with a hand, fingernails digging into the pale flesh, tilting the head roughly to face her.

"Who has been giving you those orders?" came the haunting question again. And still, accompanied with an expressionless face.

No answer again, apart from barely audible curses, dry coughing which was accompanied by whimpering of pain.

Deep down in her heart, despite she not wanting to do such gruesome acts of violence towards the witch, but she could not help it. Two of her comrades were in life threatening situations thanks to the witch. Whether they are dead or alive, it is yet to be known. The picture of both comrades lying as still as a fallen log, pale as fog, all bundled up and bandaged heavily and yet, still appear very much blood stained. All, which were caused by one disastrous curse which had something to do with Madness. Witch Mabaa-sama has issued approval to the witch bounty list to Shibusen to execute a certain few witches who ran away from the Witch Society and this one is one of them.

_I don't want the same thing to happen to him._

The fury within stirred her on. This wretch will die a slow painful death.

_I pray he will be safe and sound._

The fear of losing people whom she held high regards in, was slowly eating her up inside, and her sanity. It gradually fuelled up the dark side within her which she never showed it unless she is in the kind of situation. Which would be now. She took in a deep breath and let her rage slowly engulf her. It twisted around her soul to the core like rose vines twirling around the fence, covering it up and overwhelming the barrier. The next moment, the sane woman who always wore an expressionless face dissolved. A haunting smile crept across her face.

_I cannot lose him._

She roughly let go of the wretched witch's jaw and grabbed the witch's arm, stretching it up above her head, slamming it against the tree. Reaching into her coat pocket, she pulled out a small dagger. Still holding onto the hand, the Meister jammed the dagger right through the middle of the palm, piercing the tree bark. A shrill scream radiated throughout the gloomy woods. The ground and the tree were splattered with more scarlet. The atmosphere was getting more vibrant with the stench of blood. Some blood sprayed across her face, but the Meister ignored it.

She had the witch half leaning against the tree, supported by just the dagger's implantation. The haunting question was repeated in the same manner and she slowly twitched the dagger in a downward motion. Very slowly.

When the latter refused to comply, the Meister pulled out the dagger with a swift motion, blood splattering out from the wound along with the movement of the dagger blade. She grabbed the witch by the hair and dragged her into the open, where which was left of the remains of a secret building, once hidden before the raid by the duo. The screeches and clanking of broken tiles and metal echoed behind as the witch was being dragged. Clearly, she was used to using magic that melee combat and physical pain on the skin was foreign to her. Perfect. She would be dearly awarded with her deeds. No one is to temper with the pride of being the soldiers of Lord Death. She shall soon dance with Death herself.

A large broken pillar stood in the midst of the ruins. The Meister threw the witch at its direction. A deafening thud of a torso in hard contact with the concrete was audible. By this time, the witch was already very weak. However, she could sense something dark emitting from the depths of the soul within the Meister who was slowly approaching her. The sinister sensation sent rapid shivers down her spine. Never did she sense such a sinister dark force from anyone before, apart from Madness, which she briefly came into contact with ages ago before her experiments. This one had murderous aura around her. What even pierced deeper into the fear would be the constant serene smile which was draping on the Meister's face.

The Meister seated herself on a small boulder right in front of the broken pillar where the witch leant against. One hand holding the blood stained dagger while another hand closed up with only the index finger out, and wiping it slowly across the silver blade, scooping up some of the witch's blood. She slowly brought the stained index finger to her lips, tasting the blood.

"Nasty." She mused. "Imagine the earth will be polluted with such filthy blood later."

She raised an eyebrow at the witch.

"Not going to talk? This will continue till you die a slow painful death. But it's fine. We already got an idea where to look at next."

That was confronted by a deathly silence.

"Fun time is up. I am getting bored."

In a swift motion, she clutched the witch's jaw again and yanked it up. She shoved the tip of the dagger blade into her mouth. The witch had a misty look in her eyes, anticipating her death.

"Not so fast, witch."

With a snap of her wrist, the dagger slid in an upwards curve, cutting through the cheek and resulting with a Glasgow smile with blood and tendons visible from the cut. The sight was gruesome, so was the scream.

"Ivanov! Ophelia!" the witch screamed before collapsing.

The raging adrenaline dispersed from her veins at the answer. She felt tired and worn from the deed. So sadistic, gruesome and disgusting. So not her. For a brief moment she could not remember exactly what happened during the stretch of time when the torture occurred. The hand released the dagger and it dropped onto the cold ground with a clatter. She closed her eyes and let herself fall back onto the ground.

She woke up lying on a pale white bed with Crona sitting beside and dozing off. She tried to recall what happened previously however, had no recollections of any event. Other than a splitting headache, there were only two words that she remembered.

Ivanov and Ophelia.

He was stationed at Ivanov. And the leader of the pack was lurking there. Things were not looking any good at all. Who knows what will happen to him, especially when he had his blood contaminated with Black Blood. Although it was stable and under his strong control, this isn't any mundane situation they are dealing with right now.

"Shit. I can't do anything constructive for this…" she murmured as she slumped back onto the pillow. More or less, almost everything was wrapped up, except for the boss behind conducting all the attacks and infections. As long as this isn't resolved, high chance she would not be able to see him. Even if he were to meet with any mishaps, she would want to die together with him.

Days later, the investigations at her side was officially completed after that gruesome raid and interrogation. Pre-kishins, kishins and all other abominations created were wiped out fast upon the capture of that half-dead witch, who was in turn sent back to the Witch Society to be dealt with. The events had dragged on for more than eight months. Kid himself had issued a summon for all available combat personnel from all the headquarters to assemble at Ivannov. Russia had been reported to be heavily plagued with unknown deaths. They had to spread the white lie around to the people that this was caused by a serious unknown virus creating an epidemic in the country itself. The Meisters and available Weapons and Death Scythes sited there were getting pushed back badly. Despite cracking a part of the unknown from the depths, nothing else was known. The discovered cradle for the Awakening of the unknown subject, had been emitting atrocious wavelengths of Madness that it was totally impossible to get near it. More manpower is needed for the Final Operation.

She packed up her things and looked at the sky. Despite the fact that she was still at her headquarters, her heart was already at Ivannov months ago.

_Just a bit more, Soul. Just a bit more.  
_

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**Author's Notes: **Pardon the mild gore in this one because it is a tribute to my sadistic friend of mine who happens to be another awesome writer. Had promised him ages ago to include this element in one of the chapters. Maybe it did not turn out well but, this is a bridge to the final few chapters to come. Sorry for the really late update. School has been hectic. After all, I am doing my final year. But the story will go on as usual, tho delayed.

There will be another upload soon, and that is actually a really late Valentine's Day present to all. Those who followed RE's progression will remember that there is a Christmas Chapter in some part of the story chapters. This coming one will be Soul's version.

Have an awesome day and thanks for reading (:


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